JOHANNESBURG

PlusNews has launched a new radio page delivering high-quality audio feature programmes that give a voice to people and communities on the frontline of the AIDS pandemic.

The ready-to-broadcast MP3 audio files are free to download. They bear witness to the impact of HIV in southern Africa, particularly on the region's most vulnerable people: its children and women.

Produced in partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, PlusNews Radio reports cover key issues in prevention, treatment and care from Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

'I don't want to die alone' - the challenge of prevention

Antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) can help prolong the lives of people who are HIV-positive, but they should go hand-in-hand with prevention measures to guard against infection in the first place. PlusNews talks to young people in Botswana, which has one of the world's highest prevalence rates.

Looking forward to life

Memory work has traditionally been associated with death: a way for HIV-positive people to say goodbye and leave a legacy for their children and family. But this innovative form of psychosocial support is evolving, and now also caters for HIV-positive people accessing life-prolonging treatment, as well as orphans and vulnerable children.

Giving children a chance to live

An estimated 18,000 children in the tiny mountain kingdom of Lesotho are HIV-positive, but only 1,000 are accessing ARV drugs that can prolong their lives. The survival prospects for those not on treatment are bleak. PlusNews looks at the challenges of rolling out ARVs.

Children bear the brunt of AIDS crisis

The death of a parent turns a child's life upside down, but when AIDS is the cause, the tragedy is magnified. Unlike other illnesses, there is a strong likelihood the second parent will also succumb to debilitating sickness and die. PlusNews spoke to two children about their lives.

Caring for the caregivers

Every Friday, two dozen home-based care volunteers meet at the Red Cross office in Soweto, Johannesburg, and belt out harmonies that wake up the quiet side street. Singing in the choir is a way of de-stressing and rejuvenating after a hard week of tending to the sick.

Protecting newborns from HIV

Namibia, like many countries in southern Africa, is struggling with high rates of HIV infection, but it has one of the region's most successful programmes for preventing mother-to-child transmission of the virus. PlusNews takes a look at the programme.

Home-based care helps shore up crumbling health service

Health programmes across southern Africa do not have the capacity to care for the millions affected by HIV and AIDS. Often it is members of the community that volunteer to help. PlusNews spoke to caregivers in Zimbabwe about how they cope with the never-ending workload.

More audio files will be added to the menu of radio programmes.