Health e News
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.
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South Africa’s top scientists and researchers have come out in support of health minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi after the furore over Home Affairs supplied AIDS death statistics he quoted recently – which may have been incorrect.
In June 1999 Thabo Mbeki became president. And so began one of the most destructive episodes in our recent history ‘ AIDS denialism. Mbeki questioned the very existence of a sexually-transmitted virus that caused AIDS.
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Simple in its design and methodology, yet massive in its impact – the mothers2mothers (m2m) programme is emerging as one of the Aids epidemic’s success stories.
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South Africans may soon be able to get an HIV home test kit to enable them to find out their HIV status in private.
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President Jacob Zuma has announced the most significant government-led interventions to stem the AIDS epidemic since its emergence more than 20 years ago, stating that extraordinary measures are needed.
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Nomthandazo Mtuta’s life story is a powerful testimony to how themothers2mothers (m2m) programme has spared many parents the heartbreak of having to bury their children.