Health e News
- ///Health
Scientists have completed their laboratory research on a potential HIV vaccine for South Africa and the process is underway to begin human trials later this year. Kerry Cullinan reports.
- ///Health
One person is sure to be at the forefront- putting the view of business across – when government and the pharmaceutical industry tackle one another in the much hyped court case. But is Mirryena Deeb really the Cruella de Ville of the industry or is she just a woman caught up in the demands of trying to juggle a stressful job, motherhood and a sick nation calling louder and louder for medicine to ease its pain…Anso Thom from Health-e News Service spoke to her.
- ///Health
Living with HIV for eight years without picking up an opportunistic infection, Lundi Ntikinca is worried about the day when he will need expensive medication that could save his life. An option he cannot afford.
- ///Health
More than 300 people attended the Treatment Action Campaign’s Western Cape provincial conference this weekend. The organisation declared its intention to begin a campaign in April to ensure that clinics offered basic medicines and treated people with HIV/AIDS with dignity and respect.
Health specialists have expressed concern that the budget announced by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel did not go far enough in addressing South Africa’€™s developmental health challenges. Anso Thom and Sue Valentine reports.
- ///Health
Health economists have responded cautiously to Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’€™s “generous” allocations towards interventions targeting HIV/AIDS.Manuel announced a R300-million supplementary allocation for targeted HIV/AIDS interventions in 2002/03 and R313,5-million in 2003/04.
- ///Health
The United Nations Secretary-General says HIV/AIDS is the biggest challenge of our time and has called for intensified and broadened political and financial commitments by nations in their response to the AIDS crisis.
- ///Health
The Mail & Guardian newspaper recently printed two highly critical responses to Charlene Smith’€™s article on free medication and milk formula to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV (Mail & Guardian, January 26 ‘€“ Feb 1), but a letter sent to the newspaper by Professor Hoosen “Jerry” Coovadia, co-convenor of the AIDS 2000 Conference, Professor Anna Coutsoudis and other colleagues at the University of Natal went unpublished. Coutsoudis approached Health-e to clarify several key issues regarding HIV transmission and breast-feeding.
- ///Health
A grandmother, whose life was made a living hell after she was wrongly diagnosed HIV-positive is claiming R2-million in damages from the laboratory that tested her blood. Now she has launched a damages action against Van Drimmelen Laboratorium, the laboratory which carried out the initial test, claiming she suffered severe emotional stress, loss of dignity and humiliation as a result of the initial Elisa test finding that she was HIV positive. Subsequent tests showed that she was in fact HIV-negative. Health-e investigated the reliability of the Elisa test and others, the protocol followed by the life insurance industry and government’€™s own investigation into HIV testing’€¦
- ///Health
In this audio feature, we focus on the value of talking about sex and sexuality. Children and adolescents need to receive appropriate and accurate information to keep them safe and healthy in a society which has one of the fastest growing rates of HIV transmission in the world.
- ///Health
As the vigil next to Nkosi Johnson’s bedside continues and messages of support flood in from around South Africa and the world, doctors and AIDS lobbyists have applauded the contribution that this eleven year old little boy has made to challenging the ignorance and prejudice all too often associated with HIV/AIDS. Sue Valentine compiled this report and began by asking Treatment Action Campaign leader Zackie Achmat why he thought Nkosi has made such an impact on our lives.
- ///Health
A few weeks ago, the generic drug, Biozole, was successfully tested and found to be a valid equivalent of the anti-fungal medication, Fluconazole. This fulfils the conditions required by the Medicines Control Council before it can grant a Section 21 exemption that will allow Biozole to be used as a valid generic for specific purposes. Provided the exemption is granted, Biozole will be imported from Thailand by the Brooklyn Medical Centre and distributed free of charge to HIV/AIDS patients. Dr Steve Andrews, is a partner at the centre and is the man who will defy the Pfizer patent to dispense the life-saving generic drug. Sue Valentine spoke to him to find out what prompted this action.