“The effect of HIV/AIDS in southern Africa is considered so grave that the United Nations (UN) is to hold a high-level special meeting in Johannesburg tomorrow with the heads of the UN children’s fund, Unicef, and HIV/AIDS agency UNAids.

Southern Africa is one of the regions hit hardest by HIV, with prevalence rates topping 30% in countries such as Botswana and Swaziland, says the UN.

The agency mounted a massive $800m humanitarian operation during southern Africa’s dry spell between 2002 and last year to counter the ‘triple threat’ of food insecurity, weakened capacity for governance and AID”