When Awino lost her husband to Aids in 2002, she also lost her family’s only source of income. Left alone and HIV-positive, her life was saved by a programme in Uganda that provides access to antiretroviral drugs. Yet today, with the virus barely detectable in her blood, Aids is still ravaging her life. Having robbed her family of its livelihood, the disease is pushing Awino and her four children to the depths of extreme poverty.

More than 33m people globally live with HIV. In response, governments, non-governmental organisations, health professionals and others are rushing to meet a critical goal by 2010: ensuring universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.