Health e News
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It’s like putting a man on the moon. They believed and knew they could do it. We believe and there is a firm scientific conviction that a vaccine against AIDS will be developed.” Dr Walter Prozesky, the driving force behind South Africa’s effort to find an AIDS vaccine, speaks this with “firm conviction”.
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If there were such a title, thirty-something Salim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim would be South Africa’€™s “first couple” of HIV/AIDS research.
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Professor Hoosen “Jerry” Coovadia used to be a draw-card speaker at anti-apartheid rallies. Yet today he finds himself at odds with the very democratic government he fought so hard to install over its HIV/AIDS policy.
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President Thabo Mbeki’€™s controversial AIDS review panel meets tomorrow (Mon 3 July) for a second and final time, but insiders describe the body as having been a waste of time and money.Government has said that the panel — which brought together 33 international experts including “dissidents” who do not believe that HIV causes AIDS ‘€“ will cost it R2-million of taxpayers’€™ money.
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There are five key reasons why the HIV/AIDS epidemic is so rampant in South Africa, according to co-convenor of the 13th World AIDS Conference, Jerry Coovadia.
Dr Marcus Mumakwe’€™s wedding is giving the superintendent of Jane Furse Hospital a headache. Mumakwe wants two weeks’€™ leave but as he is one of only four doctors at a hospital that should have 13, this is a difficult request.
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The fresh offer from five major pharmaceutical companies to reduce the price of anti-AIDS drugs still does not answer the vexed question of what is their best possible discounted price.
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The Legal Resources Centre (LRC) in Pretoria has taken the workers’ compensation commissioner to court twice in the last year – and won. The commissioner was found guilty of unreasonable delay and received a penalty in the form of interest payments. The LRC is now considering taking the commissioner to court again, this time concerning delays in the objection process whereby rejected claims can be disputed.
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Sarafina, Virodene, unspent millions – in a country with one of the fastest growing AIDS epidemics in the world, it’s sobering to say the least that these are the predominant associations one makes with the fight against AIDS in South Africa. The AIDS Review 2000, released by the Centre for the Study of AIDS at the University of Pretoria and written by Hein Marais, offers a fascinating overview of the South African response to HIV/AIDS since 1994.
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Until recently, the National Association for People Living with AIDS (NAPWA) has had a policy of hiring only HIV positive employees. However, NAPWA has been re-thinking this policy on the grounds that each and every South African is affected by the disease. Some also feel that the continuing distinction between HIV-positive and HIV-negative people runs the risk of feeding into the very prejudice and stigma which organisations such as NAPWA hope to overcome.
Despite the recent flooding in the north of the country, South Africa is a water-scarce country. Not only do we generally have low rainfall figures, a significant amount of water is lost to alien vegetation. The Working for Water programme was started by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry in 1996 – both as a poverty-relief programme and as a means of clearing the alien vegetation that threatens our water supply.
The widespread practice of burning old tyres to retrieve and sell the wire inside them is not only a serious health hazard for neighbourhood residents, but poses a risk to air safety as well. Jo Stein reports.