Health specialists and advocates say the Tuberculosis epidemic, which is largely fueled by HIV infection, requires massive social mobilization and activism if the country's TB Control Programme is to show better results.
A growing number of people with mental illnesses are placing a strain on Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, in Soweto, as there are fewer staff and facilities to serve them.
In our last 'Living with AIDS' feature we brought you news of a specialised service that provides both AIDS and psychiatric treatment for mentally ill patients at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. This week, we meet some of the clinic's patients who show that mentally ill patients can take their ARVs successfully.
Psychiatrists at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital are concerned about the quality of care that their patients get. They report that as a discipline, Psychiatry is being undermined and that their patients suffer incredible stigma.
A lack of space has forced psychiatrists at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital to accommodate adolescents as young as 13 in the same wards as adult psychiatric patients, often risking their safety.
With a high patient load, the Psychiatric Unit at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital did not expect that it would be without a ward to admit new patients.
The saying that necessity is the mother of invention rings very true for Luthando Psychiatric HIV Clinic at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, a specialist service established two years ago to provide AIDS treatment to the hospital's mentally ill patients.
About 75 000 children under the age of five die in South Africa each year. This means that about 200 South African children die every day. HIV accounts for most of the deaths, and compared with countries of similar economies, South Africa is not doing well to care for its babies.
As country leaders and donors met this week at the United Nations' head-quarters in New York to review their progress towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals, there were renewed calls for aid to strengthen Africa's response to AIDS.
International donors and African governments have been called upon to commit financial resources for the elimination of HIV infection in children, which still remains high. In South Africa alone, AIDS-related child mortality is 45%.
People living with HIV and AIDS are at an increased risk of developing serious mental disorders, according to mental health professionals at a Johannesburg meeting this week.
The current strike by government employees which has left some patients dead and others without access to medication could have been avoided had government had a Minimum Level Service Agreement with unions to ensure that health care services do not shut down.
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