Outlook Highlights

• Normal to above – normal rainfall is expected over the continental SADC countries.

• Most of Madagascar is expected to receive above-normal to normal total rainfall

• Heavy rainfall is forecast and is expected to bring relief to the dryness across southern Africa during the last next week of December 2011.

Note: Map in 2 pages

KANYE - Projections indicate that HIV/AIDS related deaths are down by around 60 per cent from an estimated 14 700 in 2003 to 6 200 by the end of 2010.

The reduction is attributed to introduction of the anti-retroviral programme, said President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama during the World AIDS Day commemoration in Moshupa yesterday.
With full treatment access and further personal responsibilities for one's own health, President said the nation can aspire for zero AIDS related deaths by 2016.

30 NOVEMBER 2011 ¦ GENEVA -- Global progress in both preventing and treating HIV emphasizes the benefits of sustaining investment in HIV/AIDS over the longer term. The latest report by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and UNAIDS "Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Response" indicates that increased access to HIV services resulted in a 15% reduction of new infections over the past decade and a 22% decline in AIDS-related deaths in the last five years.

Global temperatures in 2011 have not been as warm as the record-setting values seen in 2010 but have likely been warmer than any previous strong La Niña year, based on preliminary data from data sources compiled by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). The global combined sea surface and land surface air temperature for 2011 (January–October) is currently estimated at 0.41°C ± 0.111°C (0.74°F ± 0.20°F) above the 1961–1990 annual average of 14.00°C/57.2°F.

Foreword

HIV/AIDS imposes enormous economic, social, health, and human costs and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The challenge is particularly acute in Sub-Saharan Africa, home to two-thirds (22.5 million) of the people living with HIV/AIDS globally, and where HIV/AIDS has become the leading cause of premature death.

JOHANNESBURG — Rising global temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns could affect water flows on Africa's mighty Nile and Limpopo rivers, an agricultural research group said Monday.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, a global think-tank, warned the changes could have major effects for countries that share the rivers -- raising the risk of conflicts erupting over water use, already a subject of often touchy regional relations.

This report covers the period 1 January to 30 June 2011

In brief