As part of its offer of cheaper anti-malarial and certain HIV/AIDS drugs to the developing world, GlaxoSmithKline will extend the offer to non-government organisations and employers in Africa that provide HIV/AIDS treatment to their staff.

Magalane Moela is 72-years old. She was born in the south-eastern region of the Northern Province and began working on an asbestos mine when she was in her early twenties, much older than many of the other widows in the area, some of whom started working for the mines from as young as six. She is one of many former asbestos mine employees trying to get compensation for the debilitating disease of asbestosis.

Medical personnel from across Africa will soon be trained on the "latest HIV/AIDS treatment options and bring the highest standard of care to patients" at a clinic to be built at Uganda's Makerere University and funded by the Pfizer Foundation. The Kampala clinic, which is expected to open by the end of the year, will train at least 80 doctors per year in the latest AIDS treatment techniques. One of the goals of the clinic will be to put more patients under anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment and use diagnostic technology to monitor them and determine what kind of ARV treatments would be appropriate for Africa. Health-e reports.

Despite research findings that 30% of SA children under six are Vitamin A deficient, the Medicines Control Council has failed to fast track the registration of the life-saving supplement. Poor co-operation between the MCC and the Department of Health along with unnecessary stalling has allowed tens of thousands of children to continue to suffer Vitamin A deficiency in this country, a condition that has seen thousands die because their immune systems are compromised. Health-e investigates why Vitamin A needs to be distributed as a matter of urgency.

The pharmacy industry has moved swiftly to prepare itself for the implementation of the much disputed Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act that is set to bring huge changes to the entire medical industry. The price of prescription medicine is likely to fall as pharmacists  swop their profit margins for a professional fee. Anso Thom reports...

AIDS activists will picket outside the Johannesburg Hospital's HIV clinic today (Friday) in protest against understaffing and poor resources which have rendered the clinic virtually inoperable over the past few months. As Anso Thom reports, the sorry state of affairs at the clinic has existed for some time.

Swiss drug company Novartis has indicated that is in the final stages of negotiating a slash in the price of a malaria drug, a move that would benefit South Africa as well.

The withdrawal of the pharmaceutical industry from litigation against the Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act opens the way for the South African government to offer consumers access to cheaper medicines. But the public should be under no illusions that it immediately creates the conditions for affordable medicines and cheap anti AIDS drugs.

It has been almost two and a half years since Parliament passed the Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act on October 31, 1997. During this time the legislation has been tied up in litigation instituted by the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association who argue that their patent rights will be ignored by section 15c of the new law. AIDS activists around the world have thrown their weight behind the South African government in its bid to create a legal framework to ensure more affordable drugs. Anso Thom reports.

It has been almost two and a half years since Parliament passed the Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act on October 31, 1997. During this time the legislation has been tied up in litigation instituted by the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association who argue that their patent rights will be ignored by section 15c of the new law. AIDS activists around the world have thrown their weight behind the South African government in its bid to create a legal framework to ensure more affordable drugs. Anso Thom reports.