DAKAR, 21 January (PLUSNEWS) - The meeting-place was at a noisy down-market street café where the waiter as well the clients were gay, but where everyone was staunchly pretending not to be. Senegal's homosexual men are peeping out from behind the mask, but social and religious taboos run strong. Full report

MAPUTO, 21 January (PLUSNEWS) - Albertina, a 34-year-old mother of three children, has just learnt she is HIV positive. She appears to take it calmly and manages to remain focused on her youngest son, Pedro, who is waiting to see the doctor at the Paediatric Day Hospital in Maputo, the Mozambican capital. Full report

FREETOWN, 20 January (PLUSNEWS) - The government of Sierra Leone has launched a programme to provide free antiretrovial (ARV) drugs to 300 people living with AIDS, Professor Sidi Alghali, director of the National AIDS Secretariat (NAS) said. Full report

KAMPALA, 20 January (PLUSNEWS) - Uganda’s public transport system is set to become the latest vehicle to promote behaviour change in the country’s continued fight against HIV/AIDS, according to the ministry of health. Full report

JOHANNESBURG, 19 January (PLUSNEWS) - Children have been left out of national programmes to provide anti-AIDS drugs, the UN Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, said on Tuesday. Full report

BISSAU, 18 January (PLUSNEWS) - A first consignment of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for people living with AIDS has arrived from Brazil for distribution free of charge to people living with AIDS in Guinea-Bissau. However, local doctors and nurses have not yet received training in how to use the drugs and will be reliant on medical manuals to learn how to prescribe them. Full report

JOHANNESBURG, 20 January (PLUSNEWS) - A new Zambian AIDS relief programme, focusing on vulnerable children, received a much needed cash boost from the US this week. Full report

JOHANNESBURG, 20 January (PLUSNEWS) - UNAIDS has expressed concern over a report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) showing that businesses were doing little to tackle HIV/AIDS. Full report

JOHANNESBURG, 20 January (PLUSNEWS) - Southern Africa's Tourism Services Association (SATSA) has announced plans to provide medical assistance and counselling to foreign and local tourists visiting South Africa in the event of HIV/AIDS exposure. Full report

JOHANNESBURG, 19 January (PLUSNEWS) - A senior UN official has expressed concern over the lack of paediatric anti-AIDS formulas, despite an estimated 2.2 million children living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. Full report

JOHANNESBURG, 19 January (PLUSNEWS) - Uganda's AIDS Control Programme (UACP) has announced plans to use public transport systems to distribute condoms and HIV/AIDS awareness messages. Full report

JOHANNESBURG, 19 January (PLUSNEWS) - In a shift from its traditional teachings, Spain's Catholic Church acknowledged on Tuesday that condoms have a place in the global prevention of HIV and AIDS. Full report