The World Health Organization has said that 10 people have now died from the Ebola virus in Gabon.

Nigeria is set to launch Africa's first trial programme to use cheap, imported, generic Aids drugs to combat the disease sweeping the continent. Aiming to tackle the effects of an epidemic now affecting almost 3,5 million Nigerians, and more than 28 million Africans, the programme will start in 18 federal health centres on a limited number of patients.

A new measure of the World Health Organisation [WHO] puts the life expectancy of Zambians at a startling 30 years - the lowest level in the country’s history - a global network of non-governmental organisations has revealed.

The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) says there were at least 2.6 million Nigerians living with HIV-AIDS and about one million children without parents as a result of the HIV scourge by the end of last year.

In June the Global AIDS and Health Fund was launched with great fanfare. The fund should have been up and running by now, but six months on, the $10bn target proposed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan stands at just $1.5bn. Administrative structures are not in place and no money has been disbursed. Since the fund was announced, it's estimated 1.5 million people - equivalent to almost the entire population of Northern Ireland - will have died from AIDS. Among them will be over a quarter of a million children.

Schools are teaching pupils about sex and sexual diseases in an attempt to curb the spread of HIV/Aids.

Opposition political parties have strongly criticised the government's HIV/AIDS programme labelling it ineffective and calling on the government to declare a state of emergency as the only way to combat the spread of the disease.

The HIV/AIDS Search Engine is a tool for searching the internet for news on medications, treatments and vaccines. People can log in privately and chat with a counselor or get answers to questions from an online forum. Users can search through links using major search engines and news headlines sites. This online service is particularly targeted at rural locations where HIV/AIDS information and support is limited.

The World Food Programme has warned of possible breaks in the food pipeline in Namibia in January if it does not secure donor funding soon.

The Treatment Action Campaign has reacted angrily to Finance Minister Trevor Manuel's claim that the debate on anti-retroviral Aids drugs is misplaced.

There is considerable debate and enquiry concerning the most effective communication strategies for addressing HIV/AIDS issues. James Deane, Executive Director of The Panos Institute, prepared a background paper on this theme for the recent Communication for Development Roundtable held in Managua, Nicaragua, Nov 26 - 28 2001, and hosted by UNFPA. Go to the web site to participate and contribute.

Maternal mortality is a major challenge to global public health. But it is difficult to measure true maternal death rates at the community level, particularly in societies where most deliveries occur at home. What is the most accurate way to estimate maternal mortality in countries with limited resources and infrastructure?

Labour migration plays an important role in HIV transmission, particularly in the mining industry in eastern and southern Africa. HIV prevalence is around 30 percent amongst South African gold miners. Improved strategies for HIV prevention are obviously needed - is it time for a new approach?

At the end of 2001, an estimated 40 million people globally were living with HIV. In many parts of the developing world, the majority of new infections occur in young adults, with young women especially vulnerable. About one-third of those currently living with HIV/AIDS are aged 15–24. Most of them do not know they carry the virus. Many millions more know nothing or too little about HIV to protect themselves against it.

What is the future of food? Everyone agrees that feeding the world in the decades ahead will require substantial increases in crop yields. But how we get there has become a remarkably contentious question because of biotechnology. What should be biotechnology’s role in assuring affordable and sustainably grown food for all? How we answer this question now will have profound ramifications for decades to come. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.

The New York Times, in a recent installment of its "Death and Denial" series about AIDS in Hlabisa, South Africa, reports that "everyone in Hlabisa has been advised to use condoms, but few do." Poverty, ignorance, "fatalism," myths and "cynicism" all play a role in residents' decisions not to use condoms. Although some men interviewed in local bars said that they may use condoms "20% to 50% of the time," they added that "[b]ecause we are Zulus, we don't believe AIDS can affect us. We see our sisters dying, but we don't believe it's AIDS. We think it's TB or pneumonia."

There is considerable debate and enquiry concerning the most effective communication strategies for addressing HIV/AIDS issues. James Deane, Executive Director of The Panos Institute, prepared a background paper on this theme for the recent Communication for Development Roundtable, held in Managua, Nicaragua, Nov 26 - 28 2001, and hosted by UNFPA. Links below are to the relevant sections of the paper.

The goal of the program is to develop community capacity for health education / information and to promote activities on such topics as: Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses, hygiene and sanitation, mine awareness and injury prevention, and prevention of communicable diseases such as HIV and STDs. Fluent in written and spoken English; Arabic an asset.

Extensive health news reporting, expertise in HIV/AIDS issues, experience with gov't funded grant programs, excellent communication skills. This position is based in Washington, DC and reports directly to the VP of Programs.

The course aims at contributing to the reduction of human suffering related to food and nutrition problems in Tanzania and other African countries. The course is specifically intended for programme implementers at district level, who are responsible for planning and implementation of activities (programmes, projects, etc.) directed at improving the food and nutrition situation of population groups at risk. This course, therefore, is designed to strengthen the ability of participants in planning, managing, administrating and evaluating such activities within the constraints and opportunities present in their own geographical and socio-economic situation.