Heavy smokers should scan for lung cancer
Older smokers and former heavy smokers should consider low-dose computed tomography (CT) scans to screen for lung cancer.
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2013
Study aims to close the HIV tap
A massive population-based study launched in the Western Cape and Zambia yesterday is aiming to answer the critical question whether testing large populations for HIV and immediately starting those infected on effective antiretroviral treatment programmes, could close the tap on new infections.
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Extra-couple relationships a significant driver of HIV epidemic
Heterosexual couples in long-term relationships who have sexual encounters outside their established partnership (extra-couple relationships) are one of the main drivers of the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa, according to new research published in The Lancet journal.
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3 months and orphaned
Vhembe. ' At just three-months-old, a boy from Mabila village in Limpopo lost both his parents to AIDS-related illnesses. Along with three other siblings he now lives with his grandmother.
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Patients protest over cancer services
CAPE TOWN - Cancer survivors gathered in central Cape Town yesterday to protest and raise awareness of the challenges faced by patients in South Africa, saying they are fed up with among others broken radiation machines and poor treatment access.
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TB vaccine fails
CAPE TOWN - A critical anti-tuberculosis (TB) candidate vaccine tried in infants, has failed in trials. The MVA85A vaccine candidate was found to be safe and well tolerated, but ineffective in combination with the Bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG), the currently used TB vaccine.
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Grannies play soccer to keep fit
Vhembe. ' Grannies from the Mufulwi village in Limpopo are playing soccer to keep fit. This group of women aged between 50 and 75 years call themselves "Nyonyoloso ya vhaaluwa", which means 'excercise for elders'.
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Experiences in public health
Africa Health Placements (AHP) conducted interviews with local and foreign-qualified doctors to determine what factors attracted them to South Africa and what factors could potentially push them away from working in the public sector, to examine their thoughts on management, team work and perceptions in public healthcare facilities in South Africa, as well as their experiences both in and outside the hospital.
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Graphic warnings on cigarettes effective across demographic groups
Hard-hitting graphic tobacco warnings on cigarette packets are helping smokers from all socio-economic backgrounds to quit, new research suggests. A study by researchers at Legacy and the Harvard School of Public Health provides evidence that bold pictorial cigarette warning labels that visually depict the health consequences of smoking play a life-saving role in highlighting the dangers of smoking and encouraging smokers to quit.
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Smoke like a man, die like a man
Women's risk of dying from smoking is now almost equivalent to that of men.
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Extra nurse will lighten the load at village clinic
Vhembe. ' Long queues and people being sent home without treatment is hopefully something of the past for patients at the Matavhela Clinic in Limpopo where an extra nurse joined the team of medical staff recently.
Read More » Extra nurse will lighten the load at village clinicNelspruit hospital without water, 4 weeks now
Media Release: The SA Medical Association (SAMA) has stressed its frustration and disappointment about the current situation at Themba Hospital in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, which has been without water since 4 January 2013. The association has therefore urged the MEC and the Provincial Department of Health in Mpumalanga to address this dire situation - a serious health risk to both the institution's patients and doctors.
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Homes, lives lost in Limpopo flooding
Vhembe. ' A Limpopo man has spoken of how he held his wife as she died in his arms after heavy rains caused a wall of their house to collapse on top of her. Edzani Musetsho said he was unable to get her to hospital because the bridge that leads out of their village was swept away by the flood water.
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Deaths likely following Mthatha depot shambles
Scores of state patients living with HIV are in danger of dying after a myriad of problems saw the Mthatha Medical Deport unable to dispense antiretrovirals for a number of weeks.
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HIV patients stranded as PEPFAR funds dry up
Tshwane. - The news that the United States President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) was discontinuing its financial support to non-governmental organisations in South Africa was received with shock by the thousands of patients at Hope for Life, an NGO in Winterveld in the northern region of the City of Tshwane that is now facing closure.
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