Health e News
We pick up on the story of Vhuthamo, a shelter for orphaned and vulnerable children in Orange Farm, south of Johannesburg that we visited last week. After three years of existence, the centre faces closure because the authorities have failed to register it as a home.
In Drieziek 6 ‘ Orange Farm, 60 km south of Johannesburg, not one household has running water, let alone a toilet.
One of the social impacts of HIV is to rob children of their parents, families and homes. However, some communities and organisations are coming together to take care of affected children. Vhuthamo Home in Orange Farm, south of Johannesburg, is one haven for such children in the country.
Health Department Director-General Thami Mseleku has been appointed as the Registrar of Medicines at the Medicines Control Council (MCC) as a stop gap measure to avoid any further delays in the registration of medicines.
At age 70, many would consider themselves too old to continue working. Let alone as a campaigner to get people tested for HIV. But that’s what retired nurse Dorothy Mosaka put away her uniform to do.
People taking medicine normally have to take it properly every day for it to make them feel better. This is called adherence. For people taking antiretroviral drugs for AIDS, adherence is very important as HIV can quickly develop resistance to the medicine if it is not taken properly.
There is a widespread perception that services in hospitals have seriously deteriorated over the past few years, due in large part to staff shortages and the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Peter Busse loved a good party and played host to some of the greatest parties around. However, he didn’t only love to play. He was also a renowned teacher on HIV and AIDS. And his passing on has left a void in the AIDS community.
Peter Busse, one of the first South Africans to openly declare his HIV status, died on Friday. Health-e News Service spoke to a few people whose lives Busse touched in many different ways.
The impact of South Africa’s severe AIDS epidemic will continue to change society. But, how and along what lines? AIDS writer Hein Marais, grapples with these questions and tries to find answers in ‘Buckling: The Impact of AIDS in South Africa’.
An after-school programme at Winnie Ngwekazi, a primary school in Pimville, some few metres away from the busy Old Potch Road linking the Soweto township with the major high-ways into Johannesburg, teaches youngsters about the harsh realities of life.
This has been another confusing year for those trying to make sense of government’s AIDS policy, thanks to the Minister of Health and her oddball connections.
