Health e News
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Presenters at the Durban Aids Conference have agreed on the urgent need for clinical trials of traditional medicine currently used by a wide spectrum of HIV infected South Africans.
Four weeks ago, we reported that Defence union, SASFU is taking the South African National Defence Force to court over what it calls ‘discriminatory policies’ on HIV/AIDS. This week, we hear how the union argues in court papers that the SANDF has made HIV a career-limiting factor for positive members and recruits alike.
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While South Africa has taken ‘giant leaps’ by reaching consensus on a national response to HIV/AIDS for the next five years, the biggest challenge is its implementation, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told the third national AIDS conference at its opening last night (Tuesday).
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The French humanitarian group, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) or Doctors Without Borders is calling upon the South African government to remove restrictions which prohibit nurses from prescribing antiretroviral treatment from the scope of nursing practice.
‘Consensus’ is the theme of the third South African AIDS conference, which opens in Durban today (5 June) and, for the first time ever, it appears that agreement is possible between government, scientists and AIDS organisations on a wide variety of issues.
The lack of public sector antiretroviral programmes is no longer the reason why many HIV-infected people in Africa will die prematurely. A chronic shortage of staff to administer these programmes has now become the greatest challenge to saving lives.
The Health Products Association ‘ the umbrella body for the complementary and alternative medicines industry – has criticized the government for failing to create regulations the industry.
A lack of guidelines regulating the multi-billion rand complementary medicines industry makes it difficult to control against false medicinal claims. This places consumers at the mercy of charlatans who claim that they can cure AIDS and other conditions.
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Ambiguous statements by political leaders about HIV/AIDS could cause massive damage to the response to the pandemic, Dr Donald Dickinson an Associate Professor at Wits Business School has said.
The South African Security Forces Union filed court papers against its employer, the South African National Defence Force, this week. The union seeks to challenge five SANDF policies which it says discriminate against HIV-positive soldiers.
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Despite the existence of interventions to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission, the number of AIDS orphans also infected with HIV is increasing in the country.
HIV-positive people living in Graaff-Reinet and surrounds are dying as they wait for the long-promised arrival of antiretrovirals, leaving hospice workers in the Eastern Cape town to care for the dying patients and the children they leave behind.