Health e News
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An article in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that starting patients on antiretroviral (ARV) therapy while they are taking TB treatment could dramatically improve their chances of survival and strengthen the integration of TB and HIV services. Full report attached.
OPINION: The response to the announced increase in spending on health (from R84bn to R102bn ‘ approximately a 25% increase) by Pravin Gordhan has received mixed responses, from praise to queries regarding whether the budget brings us closer to the proposed National Health Insurance. By Bernhard Gaede
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Human rights groups have called for political leaders to fulfil their commitments towards universal access for antiretroviral (ARV) treatment and keep their promises.
Every day, programs supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria save at least 3 600 lives, prevent thousands of new infections and alleviate untold suffering. Global Fund present its 2010 Results Report, which shows how its investments have helped accelerate progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). All the documents can be found here.
An outbreak of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) in the Free State has resulted in the death of one person and six others hospitalised.
Ten months into what many will agree is one of the toughest cabinet portfolios, health minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi shares his vision for healthcare in South Africa. In his first wide-ranging interview the former Limpopo doctor speaks frankly about National Health Insurance, HIV and the struggling health system.
In the last ‘Living with AIDS’ feature we heard how young men in Orange Farm, situated in the south of Johannesburg, are taking to medical circumcision in their hundreds. This week, we hear the reasons fuelling their enthusiasm.
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HIV stakeholders are calling on the Medicines Control Council (MCC) to speed up the registration of critical anti-HIV medication or face legal action. The Southern African HIV Clinicians Society has sent an appeal to the health minister to intervene and address the MCC registration process which they describe as the single biggest obstacle to getting affordable access to medicines.
All patients entering a state health care facility will routinely be offered HIV counseling and testing while moves are afoot to enable community health workers to conduct these tests in an effort to not add to the burden of nurses and doctors.
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The Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) was recently awarded with the 2009 World No Tobacco Day Achievement Award presented to CANSA CEO, Sue Janse van Rensburg by Dr Stella Anyangwe, World Health Organization Representative in South Africa, at a recently hosted Symposium on Environmental Carcinogens in Pretoria in honour of World Cancer Day held on 4 February 2010.
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A ceremony marking the fifth anniversary of the entry into force of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was held today in Geneva headquarters of the World Health Organization.
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OPINION: : Even if Zuma’s World AIDS Day speech is matched with sufficient budget allocation, innovative models of providing HIV and TB care will be needed to achieve the targets of the National Strategic Plan. Lesley Odendal reflects on the lessons learnt in Khayelitsha’s HIV and TB project as a window into the future.