International sex syndicates are luring pre-pubescent girls into a life of slavery and abuse from impoverished African countries such as Mozambique and Malawi, the international police organisation Interpol has warned.

At least 1,800 of South Africa's 350,000 teachers died of AIDS-related diseases last year, Johannesburg's Afrikaans daily, the 'Beeld', reported on Monday.

South African Gender Based Violence and Health Initiative is a partnership of 15 organizations working on gender based violence and health issues. SAGBVHI plans to host an annual conference on gender based violence and health in April 2002. Set to become an annual event, the conference will attempt to raise awareness about intersection between gender based violence and health and to find creative ways of building a violent free society.

The South African Medical Research Council and the South African Aids Vaccine Initiative invite applications for one-year travelling research fellowships in health research.