To assess the results of the conference and workshops, the North American and African AIDS coverage in print, television, online, and radio format will be monitored over the next several months. Links to this coverage are included below and will be updated: • Seeing moral leadership at work • 'The Cost of Funerals Is Killing Us' • Where the mission is survival Botswana bears deadly brunt of AIDS, but hope glimmers amid 'national sadness' • Breast-feeding mothers infected with HIV can pass on the disease to their children • Company joins war on AIDS for the sake of the bottom line • Vaccine Lab Open

At the end of November, seven North American journalists representing The New York Times, CNN, Scientific American, The Globe and Mail, Portland Oregonian, and the Philadelphia Inquirer, traveled to Botswana to participate in a Journalism Conference on HIV and AIDS in Southern Africa. The goal of this first ever conference was to promote discussion among African and North American media on issues associated with AIDS reporting, regional priorities for HIV treatment and prevention, and current HIV research priorities in Africa. More than 50 participants attended the conference, including members from the North American and African media, the Botswana government, the University of Botswana, Debswana Diamond Company, the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and the Botswana-Harvard Partnership.

To complement the journalism conference, a small group of North American and African journalists participated in intensive writing workshops on November 29, 2001. These workshops addressed techniques to enhance scientific reporting of HIV and AIDS and served to generate story ideas for future publications. Panelists gave presentations on the use of editorial writing, narrative writing, and news reporting to address the science of HIV and AIDS.

While in Botswana, the journalists also had the opportunity to participate in series of significant events including a press conference with His Excellency Festus Mogae, President of Botswana to address the response to AIDS in Botswana; a trip to Mochudi, a site for a clinic of the Botswana-HAI Partnership’s MASHI study, which investigates treatment and feeding strategies to prevent mother-to-infant transmission of HIV; the Botswana–Harvard HIV Reference Laboratory Dedication Ceremony, which unveiled a new expanded HIV reference laboratory, the largest and most advanced of its kind in Africa; and HAI AIDS Leadership Award Presentation to honor President Mogae for his outstanding vision, leadership, and courage in his efforts to mobilize his nation to take action against the epidemic of HIV and AIDS.

Both workshops were funded by the National Institute of Health’s Fogarty International Center.