Health e News
- ///Health
Giving some patients priority over over may be tough, but it is necessary if the TB epidemic is to be beaten with limited resources. This is the logic of international experts who are urging South Africa to pour resources into curing new cases of ordinary TB rather than spending any more money trying to treat multiple drug-resistant TB. “Pay attention to the new cases and fix them the first time around or they become retreatment and multiple drug-resistant cases. First we need to shut the tap,” says Professor Don Enarson from the World Health Organisation TB review team.
- ///Health
Driving to the Sipetu and Mary Theresa hospitals in the Eastern Cape is not for the fainthearted, but every month hundreds of people brave the potholes, mud (when it’s raining) and distances in excess of 50km to bring their severely malnourished children for treatment. More than a year ago most of the mothers would have probably returned home alone, but a simple, cost-effective intervention has seen a huge decrease in the death rates of malnourished children. The developing world is now looking towards the Mt Frere and Sipetu communities, one of the most under-resourced regions in South Africa, for answers on how to treat severely malnourished children.
- ///Health
When Sipetu Hospital’s matron, Eugenia Ngewu, stood up to pray asking for an end to malnutrition in their community, she had little Thulani (5) in mind. He arrived at Sipetu and was immediately diagnosed with Kwashiorkor, a form of severe malnutrition.
- ///Health
For the first time the Medical Research Council honoured two black researchers for their contributions to medical research. The role of the MRC in the coming years is to do research to provide the most up-to-date scientific evidence to allow the public and policymakers to make informed choices.
- ///Health
Breastfeeding is still the best option – even for HIV positive mothers, according to the findings of a recent study by researchers at the University of Natal, Durban which has caught the attention of international AIDS researchers.
- ///Health
South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland this week launched a R40-million, five-year programme aimed at controlling the spread of malaria. The control of malaria has also been complicated by the development of drug-resistant strains, forcing up the drug treatment costs. However, last year the World Health Organisation tested another drug in the Ndumo area that may be a useful addition to treatment options.
- ///Health
Rather than preach about the dangers of HIV, condom-promotion should show that when people are comfortable with, and in control of, their sexuality, condoms do not result in unsatisfactory sex.