Health e News

Mapping our livesLiving with AIDS #164

Memory box and body map outreach worker Nondumiso Hlwele talks about how the project has helped her define her past and face her future. It’€™s also unearthed her talent for drawing and depicting the world around her.

Stories of survivalLiving with AIDS #163

This week we hear from people living with AIDS who readily admit they owe their lives to the support and information they receive from being part of an organisation committed to securing access to treatment.

Comment: Mbeki and AIDS

Interviewed by the national public broadcaster the weekend after his state of the nation address, President Thabo Mbeki still seemed determined to ignore and obfuscate the impact of HIV/AIDS on the country. Health-e examines his remarks.

W.Cape’s rapid response

In the space of five years, the Western Cape has set up prevention of mother-to-child treatment sites throughout the province as well as providing antiretroviral treatment on a limited basis. Health-e asked the head of the AIDS Programme in the Western Cape, Dr. Fareed Abdullah to share the lessons they’€™ve learned over the past 10 years.

Spreading the wordLiving with AIDS # 162

The national treatment plan for HIV and AIDS offers a new opportunity to dispel some of the myths about the virus and to educate people about the epidemic and how best to take care of themselves. The development of this vital communications campaign is already under way.

Patients may choose

Government’€™s HIV and AIDS Care and Treatment Plan is not only about making antiretrovirals available in the public health sector for the first time. The programme also includes a strong focus on nutrition and traditional medicines. Health-e News Service asked Dr Nono Simelela, co-ordinator of the Plan, how the three components come together in the programme.

A decade of AIDS

In the 10 years since our first democratic election in 1994, the HIV prevalence rate among pregnant women has risen from 7.6 percent to 26.5 percent. Ignorance, fear and prejudice have defined the reponse to HIV/AIDS in many countries and South Africa has been no different. However, a key organisation that has emerged to defend the rights of people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS is the Treatment Action Campaign. Health-e looks at how activists have risen to the challenge.

Towards treatment

A major hurdle in the path towards the implementation of a national HIV and AIDS Care and Treatment Plan has been cleared. At a parliamentary briefing on Monday, the Minister of Health, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, announced that tenders for drug procurement in preparation for the roll-out of the Plan are to be advertised this Friday, (13/02/04).

Towards treatment

A major hurdle in the path towards the implementation of a national HIV and AIDS Care and Treatment Plan has been cleared. At a parliamentary briefing on Monday, the Minister of Health, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, announced that tenders for drug procurement in preparation for the roll-out of the Plan are to be advertised this Friday, (13/02/04).

Rolling back the roll-out

Pressure is mounting on government to honour its promise to roll out an HIV and AIDS Care and Treatment Plan. The plan had aimed to have 53 000 patients on treatment by the end of March 2004, however, it is clear this deadline won’t be met. Health-e News Service finds out why.

Business failing in AIDS response Living with AIDS # 161

Results from a recent survey by the South African Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (SABCOHA) and the Bureau for Economic Research show that most companies have failed to respond to the epidemic. Only a quarter of the 1006 companies surveyed have implemented a workplace policy on HIV/AIDS, and even less have a Voluntary Counselling and Testing programme, or provide care, treatment and support for infected workers.

Cheaper drugs: how it works

Why do South African consumers pay so much for prescription drugs? Health-e News Service follows the money and explains exactly who pockets what in the profit chain.

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