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You, Me, & HIV is a book about HIV/AIDS for readers in the early teenage years. Developed for distribution in South Africa, the book is available free of charge in English, Afrikaans (Ek, Jy & MIV), and isiZulu (Wena, Nami & HIV).

This is a meeting of researchers and scientists. I am an advocate. It's pretty obvious that you can't turn me into a scientist, but I want to turn you into advocates. To that end, I shall show my unbounded respect by refusing to employ scientific jargon, nor dare I even attempt it when sitting on a panel with two such illustrious and knowledgeable colleagues.

HIV/AIDS strategies in South Africa have generally emphasised the role of the formal health system led by national and provincial governments in providing support to areas such as condom distribution, the treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), voluntary counselling and testing (VCT), prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), treatment of opportunistic infections and, more recently, the provision of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs).

This is a meeting of scientists and experts in the world of HIV/AIDS. I am neither a scientist nor an expert. I'm an observer. I have spent the last four years traveling through Africa, primarily southern Africa, watching people die. I think I understand, better than most, why your collective scientific and academic work can be said to be the most important ongoing work on the planet.

Many people have negative attitudes towards those who have HIV/AIDS, and their families. These attitudes – which are called stigma - undermine HIV/AIDS care and prevention and cause great personal suffering and tragedy. The fight against HIV/AIDS and the fight against stigma have to go hand-in-hand: it is not possible to challenge one without challenging the other.

Babiza’s Story / Indaba ka Babiza, the first in a series entitled “By Children for Children through Books?, inspired by the Convention of the Rights of the Child. Published in November 2004, this 34-page, illustrated booklet relays 10-year-old Siphelele Ndlovu’s personal account of his encounter with the epidemic.

To promote understanding, knowledge sharing, and action on HIV/AIDS as a gender equality and human rights issue, UNIFEM, with support from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), has developed a Gender and HIV/AIDS Electronic Library to provide up-to-date information on the gender dimensions of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

HIVAN's Networking Unit has put together a useful resource, entitled "HIV/AIDS statistics at a glance". This document encompasses statistics from all provinces in South Africa and worldwide figures.

JSI (John Snow International) Europe and SAfAIDS (Southern African HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service) are pleased to announce the availability of a new publication, "Planning the Future: A Booklet for Families and Communities."

The Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD), based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, has released three new Policy Briefs.