Bibi-Aisha Wadvalla
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A poster held high by a Thai activist before the opening of the International AIDS conference in Bangkok summed up the urgency of the situation: ‘You talk, we die, AIDS treatment, access now.’
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Hopes for a controversy-free South African presence at the 15th International AIDS conference were dashed when the health minister opened the South African stand at the conference.
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In this feature we journey to the village of Maupye in Limpopo to meet a young boy we first met three years ago when exploring the reality of children orphaned as a result of AIDS.
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Natalia Baloyi has a lot to smile about these days. Hers is a tale of what hope and determination can help one achieve in times of trouble. Almost three years ago, as a 22 year-old Natalia was unemployed and head of a household with three siblings and a son of her own following the death of her parents from a suspected AIDS-related disease. Health-e goes back to the young women we first met in 2001 at her home in Marironi village outside Tzaneen in Limpopo province.
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Three young South African AIDS patients recently missed essential doses of their antiretroviral drugs after the supplier, Merck Sharp & Dohme ran out of stocks. The pharmaceutical giant ran out of its 50 mg tablet of Efavirenz, or Stocrin, one of the principle AIDS medicines for children aged three and older. A serious consequence of such shortages is that resistance to the particular drug can develop if patients interrupt their treatment. Furthermore, irregular drug supplies could jeopardise the government’s imminent roll-out of an HIV and AIDS treatment plan.
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A new book titled “The Moral Economy of AIDS” by University of Cape Town economist Dr Nicoli Nattrass was published recently, adding to the canon of South African literature on HIV/AIDS. Health-e News Service asked her what she meant by a ‘moral economy’.
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Two South Africans have been appointed to a high-profile Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa (CHGA). The University of Natal’s Professor Alan Whiteside and World Bank managing official Dr Mamphele Ramphela are members of the 20-person commission, chaired by Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa K. Amoako, and established at the behest of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The Commission’s mandate is to study the impacts of HIV/AIDS on African state structures and economic development and identify threats to governance. It will report back in June 2005.
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Preparation for the roll-out of a state-funded antiretroviral treatment programme requires not only careful co-ordination, but a rigorous debate on how much money should be spent on the programme and where it will come from. by Dr. Nicoli Nattrass
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As a public service, Health-e offers online readers copies of the reports and statements made by the National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organisation and Boehringer-Ingelheim on the status, safety and efficacy of Nevirapine as it pertains to the treatment of mother to child transmission of HIV.
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South Africa is once again at the centre of an AIDS drug controversy. Emotions are running high and the challenge is to determine what the issues are and the likely consequences for the thousands of women and children who may need the drug.
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A potentially precedent-setting court case between Rustenberg Platinum Mines, the Inspector of Mines and the Ministry of Mineral and Energy Affairs and which could have a serious impact on the mining industry with regard to the rights of HIV positive miners has been postponed in the Pretoria High Court until January next year.
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The death of a Mozambican miner after a leg injury is the subject of a complicated legal wrangle with potentially serious implications for the mining industry and workers who are HIV positive.