National and international efforts to prevent escalating HIV infection rates have yielded very little results. This reality has spurred the African Union into declaring 2006 as the Year of Accelerating Access to HIV Prevention in Africa.
The South African National Blood Service is considering revising its policy that bars men who have sex with men from donating blood. This follows a similar announcement recently made by the Food and Drug Administration, the medicines regulatory body in the United States.
About 279 000 people were diagnosed with tuberculosis in 2004 - up from 185 000 cases detected a year earlier. But while South Africa's TB detection rates are improving, only a few people are getting cured.
While government efforts to improve TB services have yet to bear fruit, there is some hope in the field of drug development.
After her first unpleasant experience with antiretrovirals in 2001, this week Selinah Mashinini, speaks of how hope, faith, confidence and the love of her children made her try the medication one more time ' and she has never looked back.
In the first instalment of a two-part report, we meet Selinah Mashinini, who has experienced both the good and bad side of antiretrovirals. When she first took the medication in 2001, she developed resistance to it and got even sicker. But a new treatment regimen, which she began a year later, has proven successful.
In a bid to inspire his young fans to follow his example, Springbok wing Ashwin Willemse announced this week that he had taken an HIV test.
Despite being severely disabled, Goodman Vilakazi of Orange Farm has set up a literacy project to help the old and disabled in his community, and part of their syllabus is to about HIV/AIDS.
The Medicines Control Council says that it is finalising its investigation into the activities of multivitamin businessman Dr Matthias Rath and his foundation, which include an unapproved clinical trial on HIV positive people in the township of Khayelitsha, in Cape Town. But, the actual investigation is being carried out by officials within the Department of Health.
'Unethical' and 'unscientific' are some of the words being used to describe the activities of vitamin businessman Dr Matthias Rath, who claims that his brand of multivitamins can reverse the course of AIDS.
The unchallenged actions of Dr Matthias Rath and his foundation, are undermining government's policy to provide comprehensive treatment for HIV and AIDS and endangers people's lives. These concerns are in a letter written to the Western Cape's Health MEC Pierre Uys and signed by 199 health professionals. Spokesperson for the group, Dr Andrew Boulle, spoke to Health-e.
Government's lack of leadership in the HIV/AIDS epidemic and its mixed messages about antiretroviral drugs has created fertile ground for those against medication to misinform people living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa. We report on another treatment programme taking advantage of the situation.
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