AFP Video - Health

At a theatre in Havana, both comedians and audience are patients at a psychiatric hospital. This is the latest project of French director Serge Sandor -- and apparently the stage works as great therapy. Duration: 01:47. Full Story »

South African President Jacob Zuma has vowed to strengthen the fight against AIDS in the world's worst affected country, a marked departure from the policies of his predecessor Thabo Mbeki who led a much-criticised policy of denial of the AIDS and HIV epidemic. Some critics have even called for Mbeki to be tried for genocide for his lack of action. The fight against the disease has now been stepped up with two new trials showing positive results. Duration: 02:18 Full Story »

More people are HIV positive in South Africa than in any other country in the world. Yet many men still refuse to face up to the problem. A new scheme in Johannesburg hopes to change that, by talking directly to guys in the bars and clubs around town. Full Story »

The spread of HIV in Washington has reached severe epidemic proportions with African-Americans bearing the brunt of the rates of infection. Duration: 01:27 Full Story »

The roughly half a million people living with HIV in Russia brave a daily dose of discrimination. Despite laws protecting them from bias, many - like Svetlana, who lost custody of her younger brother - complain of ostracism and the deprivation of their most basic rights. Full Story »

A floating hospital for the poor is sailing the Amazon, taking much-needed health services to populations who are still very isolated from the rest of the vast country. Full Story »

AIDS has now killed 25 million people around the world but the number of new infections is slowing sharply, the UN said in its annual report on the crisis. Almost 60 million people have been infected by the HIV virus since it was first recorded but prevention programmes are having a significant impact. Duration: 01:13 Full Story »

If it's not the fatty foods it's the lack of exercise -- or probably both. More and more Arabs living in the wealthy Gulf states are suffering lifestyle diseases, especially obesity and diabetes. Official figures show that 70 percent of adults and 12 percent of children in the United Arab Emirates are overweight and that 20 percent of the population have diabetes -- the second highest rate in the world after the small South-Pacific island-nation of Nauru. Full Story »

Diabetes affects more than 24 million Americans and is linked to killing more than 200,000 of them each year. The illness is increasingly considered an epidemic, its rise associated with chronic obesity and blamed on the sedentary lifestyle and high-fat and -sugar diet pervasive in American culture. Full Story »

Skin whitening products are all the rage in many African nations for women seeking a paler complexion. Even though many of these cosmetics contain toxic products, they also find a market in France. A new campaign is now seeking to educate consumers about the dangers of skin bleaching. Full Story »