Some experiences of HIV-positive people are horribly negative – young children abandoned by families, old men left to die on rubbish heaps – but thanks to better treatment options and public information, there are also stories of lives lived fruitfully and with courage. Shabnam Minwalla reviews three books that tell these stories

There is a definite case for curtailing the spread of blood-borne HIV by medical practitioners and bringing the prevalence of this iatrogenic spread of HIV to zero. But the authors are overstating the case when there is no need to do so, says Dr Anant Phadke

A national consultation organised by the Indian Network for People living with HIV/AIDS yielded five reports on various aspects of access to antiretroviral drugs by marginalised groups

A comprehensive study of the AIDS epidemic in Asian countries, what drives it, who is most at risk, how intervention programmes must be designed and resources allocated.

This small study carried out in Mysore found that 81% of mothers polled were agreeable to having their male children circumcised.

By 2010, at least 80% of pregnant women globally who need it should get PMTCT treatment, and 80% of children who need it should be on ART. This report assesses what progress has been made in this direction

A WHO Progress Report on HIV/AIDS finds that the price for second-line treatment is unaffordable, that the vast majority of pregnant women in need of PMTCT services are not receiving them, and that the global coverage of HIV testing and counselling remains unsatisfactorily low.

A critique of the ART programme through a scrutiny of the working of the programme and interviews with positive people.

The paper, commissioned by Indian Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS, argues vigorously for the introduction of an affordable second line ART regimen in India and makes recommendations for the programme’s effective functioning.

A recent audit of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) by the country's Comptroller and Auditor General uncovers serious gaps in the performance and attitudes of both the organisation and the Indian health ministry.