Misguided national leadership, particularly President Thabo Mbeki’s questioning of whether HIV causes AIDS, has contributed to South Africa’s HIV/AIDS prevalence rate amongst pregnant women jumping from 7,6% to 24,5% in seven years. This is the view of researchers writing in the 2001 SA Health Review, due to be released by the Health Systems Trust (HST) in Pretoria today (tues).

While it is still unclear what all the factors are driving the high TB rates in Cape Town, it is certain that inequitable access to good housing, employment, education and as a consequence, nutritious food play a major role. Comparisons between two nearby suburbs, the more affluent Bothasig and mostly poverty stricken Uitsig, highlight the stark inequities when mapping the TB rates and comparing it with indicators such as housing, overcrowding and unemployment.

Carol Snyman (32) wipes the tears from her cheeks. “They swear at you, they call you horrible names. It hurts me very much when they speak about us like this. These are my children and I love them.” Snyman’€™s family is the perfect example of why Tuberculosis is so rampant in this part of the country and even more specifically in Uitsig, a suburb typical of the poorest working class areas of Cape Town.

Yanelisa Ngqongwa is a 12-year old Grade 6 pupil at Mthawelanga Primary School, in Ekuphum’leni, a section of Khayelitsha township in the Western Cape. It’s a Thursday morning and she and a group of 14 other pupils are attending a workshop run by their teacher and a social worker from a child rights organisation Ilitha Labantu, on child abuse. Yanelisa is a vocal participant in the workshop. After a while, she stands up and tells the group that she is a rape survivor.

In a dramatic turnaround, the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government has withdrawn from government’€™s appeal today (1 March) against the court ruling compelling it to provide Nevirapine to pregnant HIV positive mothers — and has instead joined forces with government’€™s court opponent, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC).

There are no good reasons for delaying the gradual and phased expansion of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services in all provinces, a research report commissioned by the health department has revealed.But the report also highlights that given the difference in capacity and infrastructure, it is reasonable for provinces to expand the provision of PMTCT services at different speeds.

In a move that seems to have baffled even those close to her, Health minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has opted to lash out at Gauteng’s moves to expand the nevirapine programme that will see the distribution of the drug to thousands of HIV positive pregnant women in the province’s hospitals. The only possible explanation for her outburst comes from a lone voice in the health department who claims that she had been angered by the fact that she had read about Gauteng’s expansion plans in the media.

Although Finance Minister Trevor Manuel made no moves to make social income grants accessible to older children, over 60 organisations dedicated to addressing social security issues on behalf of South Africa’€™s millions of poor and vulnerable children welcomed the R20 increase in the child support grant, but hastened to add that it was still not enough.