Health e News
The impact of HIV in children does not only manifest through poor physical health. Often, children living with HIV have difficulties with their cognitive development.
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The search for an effective microbicide has been dealt another blow with disappointing study results from PRO 2000, an early generation microbicide gel that was tested to prevent HIV in women.
Sibusiso is a 10-year old boy who doesn’t know why he has to take medication for the rest of his life while his friends do not. His mother has told him that he is taking antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, but struggles to tell him why. She speaks to Health-e.
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President Jacob Zuma’s announcement last week that he will take a public HIV test will go a long way in boosting a massive HIV testing campaign that will start early next year. This will encourage all South Africans to know their status.
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GENEVA ‘ Tobacco control that focuses on cigarette smokers in Cambodia misses a huge number of women who chew tobacco, according to research published today in the international public health journal, the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.
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ISTANBUL, Turkey ‘ Only 5.4% of the world’s population was covered by comprehensive smoke-free laws in 2008, up from 3.1% in 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported today in its second report on the global tobacco epidemic.
HIV-positive babies will have an improved chance of survival following the implementation of government’s revised anti-retroviral (ARV) policy. All children living with HIV under one year of age will receive treatment as soon as they are diagnosed.
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Antiretroviral therapy (ART) can be delivered safely in the first year without routine laboratory monitoring for toxic effects, according to an article in The Lancet.
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KwaZulu-Natal has managed to slash HIV transmission from mothers to their newborn babies by almost two thirds — to seven percent ‘ since it introduced ‘dual therapy’. This is according to research being released today (Tues 8th) following a huge, year-long study that involved interviewing 38 000 mothers at 347 clinics in six districts in the province.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has welcomed King Goodwill Zwelithini’s announcement this weekend that he supports medical male circumcision and will encourage his followers to undergo the procedure which could prevent up to 60% of men acquiring HIV.
President Zuma finally ended any ambiguity in the government’s response to AIDS when he announced changes to improve AIDS treatment this week. But for these policy changes to be real, the new-found political commitment must be accompanied by the commitment of resources.
Activists are concerned that the limited access to female condoms as a means of HIV prevention compared to male condoms is a violation of human rights. Annually, the government distributes over 400 million condoms compared to three million female condoms.