More than 2,000 public health enthusiasts and professionals attended this year’s Unite for Sight Conference at Yale University. I was fortunate to be one of them and hear presentations from over 200 speakers representing all disciplines of global health, social entrepreneurship, international development and innovation.

On April 7^th, we celebrate World Health Day, which commemorates the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO). The theme this year, “1000 Cities - 1000 Lives,” encourages 1000 cities to use public spaces for open dialogue about urban health champions who have significantly impacted their city. Do you have a story?

The Southern African HIV/AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS) with support from K4Health, conducted a series of national HIV information needs assessments in seven Southern African countries (South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia) to support the planning and development of a knowledge management program.

The program, which is part of the Southern Africa HIV Knowledge Management Initiative, aims to increase the dissemination and use of accurate, evidence-based, and up-to-date information in order to improve HIV prevention in the region. Provided below are some of the findings from our needs assessment activities conducted in Botswana and Swazliand.

The objectives of the 2009 Botswana needs assessment were to explore current HIV knowledge management systems and resources at the national and regional levels, identify areas for improvement, and contribute to an analysis of future opportunities and directions for the regional knowledge management initiative. The 2009 Swazilandneeds assessment aimed to understand the HIV knowledge management systems and resources already in place in the country, identify areas for improvement, and contribute to improved information-sharing in the region.