Health e News
Pregnant women seeking healthcare in Eastern Cape government facilities are facing abuse and substandard care placing them at high risk of death and injury, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report has revealed.
‘The case of change in health care financing in South Africa through the introduction of mandatory NHI health is both strong and urgent. The case for change should also be considered in the light of the lack of achievement of the Millennium Development Goals for health, and the stagnation and even deterioration in mortality rates and life expectancy.’ ‘ Confidential National Health Insurance (NHI) Policy Proposal (February 2011)
Every electoral ward is set to have a primary health care, nurse-driven team established as part of the National Health Insurance (NHI) system and specialist doctor teams will be assigned to districts where maternal and child mortality is high.
Health minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has announced cuts in TB medication as well as steps he has taken to improve nursing colleges infrastructure. He also announced changes in the management of hospitals and categorisation of hospitals. Read the full statement here.
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To coincide with the 6th International AIDS Society (IAS) conference on HIV pathogenesis, treatment, and prevention taking place in Rome 17-20 July, The Lancet publishes a collection of HIV/AIDS articles.
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Improved and sustained efforts to diagnose and treat TB need to be made to address tuberculosis infection among children. This is according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), after results of a clinical study it conducted showed that prophylaxis with Isoniazid does not prevent TB in children.
Health-e News is the proud winner of the prestigious Global Health Council’s 2011 Excellence in Media Award for Global Health (Category: Community Media) for our documentary ‘Thula Mama’ about the prevention of mother-to-child HIV infection.
Despite substantial cuts in donor funds to the HIV/AIDS sector, South Africa has enough money to deal with the epidemic ‘ if we plug the corruption drain.
Most women still find it difficult to negotiate safe sex with their partners. The problem is even more prevalent among women who are economically dependent on men. Some institutionalised social and cultural norms also fuel the challenge.
DURBAN ‘ Ninety percent of all maternal deaths could be prevented if pregnant women were cared for by trained midwives, with specialised back-up in case of emergencies.
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A large follow-up clinical trial to confirm the encouraging result last year of a small study that tested an antiretroviral-based microbicide gel which showed that it could reduce HIV infection in women by almost 40%, is due to begin in a few weeks.
The Junior Doctors Association of South Africa (Judasa) has accused the Mpumalanga government of misleading the public about improved security at the Middelburg Hospital following the murder of a doctor on duty.