Health e News
OPINION: Dr Jonathan Broomberg shares his views on the debate around the ANC’s plans to introduce NHI. Broomberg is the Head of Strategy and Risk Management at Discovery Health
NAIROBI: (PlusNews) – When Nora Adhiambo, 21, started working as a housekeeper for a family in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, she expected to cook, clean and look after their young children; not that she would have to regularly have sex with her employer.
NAIROBI: (PlusNews) – Providing HIV prevention, care and treatment services at well-equipped local clinics could be the key to success in fighting the pandemic in the developing world, a new report by the international anti-poverty NGO, ActionAid, has said.
JOHANNESBURG: (PlusNews) – In at least five African countries, scarce resources are being spent on national HIV prevention campaigns that do not reach the people most at risk of infection, new research has found.
JOHANNESBURG: (IRIN) – Proposals to decriminalize sex work in South Africa have been moved back to the front burner after the newly installed premier of the country’s richest province, Gauteng, remarked that the issue should be addressed “objectively and with an open mind”. A review of the current legislation is underway.
Health-e will for the next few weeks publish opinion pieces from various stakeholders and experts on National Health Insurance. Anso Thom sets the scene with the first contribution with Dr Jonathan Broomberg, Discovery Health’s head of strategy and risk management.
Doctors are deeply divided on how to confront Government on their dissatisfaction regarding the Occupational Specific Dispensation (OSD), which aims among others, to improve their pay.
Research suggests that the practice of people having more than one sexual partner is a major driver in spreading the HIV epidemic. We spoke to one man who is constantly seeking satisfaction from outside his marriage.
The sexual dissatisfaction of married men has led to some of them having extra marital affairs. This kind of practice is known to be a major contributor in the rising number of HIV infections.
The inability of the government to offer doctors proper salaries in the Occupational Specific Dispensation that is currently debated, could lead to the collapse of the health system nationally, as doctors threaten to embark on a strike.
Between 5% – 15% of the South African population has ever tested for HIV. This is despite the fact that testing services are widely available in the public health sector. A recent pilot study in KwaZulu-Natal has shown that South Africans would rather test themselves than go to a clinic.
Health activists are mobilizing against the appointment of former health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang as mentor and African Union Goodwill Ambassador on maternal, infant and child health.
