COUPLES of whom one partner has HIV and the other has not are the largest and most invisible group of people urgently needing preventative treatment and support for HIV/ AIDS, members of the World Health Editors Network were told at their meeting in London last Friday.

“But the largest and most invisible group of people are those who live with partners with HIV. These people do not appear anywhare", she said.

One answer, when the male partner was infected and the female was not -- and one that met with the approval of the Roman Catholic church -- wa sperm-washing. It could be carried out at home with three test tubes and a centrifuge, at a cost of $40. Specialist health clinics could give the necessary assistance. In Africa, however, there were almost no public clinics offering such treatment, Ms Hollander said.

Professor Stephen Lewis (see here) told the meeting there needed to be much greater focus on the prevention of mother-to-chil;d transmission, "possibly the easiest preventative intervention of all, and therefore the most grievous emblem of multilateral negligence". He also called for an "unflinching" quest for a microbicide that would prevent the transmission between partners.

Last week, a Ugandan couple who are HIV positive, Stephen and Grace Wakodo, met the Queen when she visited the Mildmay Centre in Kampala. With the help of the centre, they have successfully prevented all but one of their eight children becoming infected. later, the Queen told the Ugandan parliament that the centre was "a remarkable example in the provision of care and relief for those who are ill, as well as in educating people people about how protect themselves and their families."