South Africans should move beyond the counterproductive debate about the cause of AIDS to an engagement with President Thabo Mbeki's main thrust of argument ' seeking solutions that are appropriate to our circumstances in Africa, according to Professor Daniel Ncayiyana, editor of the SA Medical Journal (SAMJ).
Read More »Seeking solutions for SA rather than debating link between HIV and AIDSAn announcement by the five pharmaceutical giants that they are prepared to reduce the price of key drugs used to treat people living with HIV/AIDS, has been met with scepticism.
Read More »Cautious response to drug offerTragically, South Africa has failed to manage and control the spread of HIV. Although a comprehensive national plan to fight the epidemic was formulated by a range of organisations before 1994, this has not been put into practice effectively.
Read More »How is the South African government dealing with the AIDS epidemic?Although too early to accurately determine, medical schemes are reporting a positive response to the newly promulgated Medical Schemes Act, which allows people to join schemes without being penalised on the basis of age or health status.
Read More »New Medical Schemes Act increases access for manyAlthough the HIV prevalence is high, the rate of increase in South Africa is beginning to stabilise, Health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang revealed this week at the release of the tenth annual ante-natal HIV survey.
Read More »4,2-million South Africans living with HIV/AIDSAnti-AIDS drug Nevirapine remains an option for the treatment of mother to child transmission despite the deaths of five women during the course of a local trial involving the drug, according to Health minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.
Read More »Nevirapine still a treatment option for mother to child transmissionA small minority of researchers seem to have succeeded in South Africa where they have failed elsewhere. They have gained the ear of the media and the public in calling to question whether HIV does cause AIDS. Worldwide, the vast majority of reputable scientsists are clear about the transmission and effect of the HI virus on the human body. ANSO THOM goes back to the basics. See also:
How safe is sex?It all started with waging a war against intestinal worms in Khayelitsha's school children. Now that the war has been won to a large degree at some schools, the local community is taking it another step forward by trying to address the severe pollution that contributes to the spread of worms and other diseases.
Read More »First “worm war” wonJohannesburg Hospital's HIV/AIDS Clinic has virtually stopped seeing new patients, referring most cases to primary health care clinics, ill equipped in dealing with HIV/AIDS-related illnesses.This latest revelation follows short on the heels of the closure last year of the HIV/AIDS Clinic at Pretoria Academic Hospital and allegations that about R40 million of government AIDS funds for 1999/2000 has not yet been spent.
Read More »Johannesburg AIDS clinic turns away patientsSoweto researchers are expected to release the long awaited results of the Nevirapine trials at the AIDS 2000 conference in Durban in July. According to Dr James McIntyre, co-director of Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital's Peri-Natal HIV Research Unit, most of the mothers who enrolled have now given birth.
Read More »Nevirapine results expected in JulyOnce again the battle against the South African AIDS epidemic has been dealt a blow with controversy and politicking surrounding the long awaited announcement of the National AIDS Council.Now the danger, according to AIDS activists, is that as in the past with Sarafina 2 and Virodene, good intentions on the side of government, will do more harm than good.
Read More »Unanswered questions surround the National Aids CouncilFaced with the daunting task of trying to manage an AIDS epidemic which has the potential "to overwhelm our services", care givers, doctors, nurses and management from the Gauteng Health Department recently met in Johannesburg, hoping to find answers. Dr Liz Floyd, head of the province's AIDS programme, said they were already losing people prematurely. "Good, fast treatment could have avoided that," she said.
Read More »Gauteng trying to come to grips with an epidemic threatening to overwhelm the hospitalsAccording to the department of health, the aim of the National Aids Council will be to provide a co-ordinated platform where government and civil society can interact to organise a more multi-sectoral, less fragmented approach in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Read More »National AIDS Council’s mandateMost of the doctors who completed their community service year at the end of 1999 intended remaining in the public service, while a large percentage were planning to go overseas.
Read More »Majority of community service doctors opt to stay in the public serviceCommunity service for doctors in South Africa was conceived amid controversy, but has emerged as a symbol of the commitment of the health department and the medical establishment to equity in the health system, according to the SA Health Review. But a concern remains the fact that unclear policy guidelines in the first year of implementation lead to only 259 (less than 25%) of the community service doctors being placed in rural hospitals, while 55% were working in regional, tertiary and specialised hospitals.First year intakes for medical students have shown a trend towards a more equitable racial distribution of students with a decrease in white students and an increase in the number of African students, the SA Health Review has revealed.
Read More »Community service doctors make a difference
