Mtshana Mvlisi

Denial is a killer

Ayanda Madikizela* lives in the Ngobozana Administration Area in Lusikisiki. She explains why she believes denial and silence are dangerous.

Protesting villagers get their medicine

More than fifty regular patients at the Village Clinic in the OR Tambo District had a sit-in at the clinic when they were told that their Efavirenz tablets – an anti-retroviral drug for HIV-positive patients – was not available.

Village Clinic: TAC pressure sees minister step in

Ongoing pressure and threatened litigation from the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has led to the construction of a temporary clinic in Lusikisiki and confirmed plans to build a permanent state-of-the-art day hospital.

In praise of support groups

Thandisa Nogaga (27) from Mcobothini Village shares her experiences of joining a support group and why it is important, even if you are not the person living with the condition.

No progress on Village Clinic

The Lusikisiki community waited in vain last week for a much-anticipated sod turning ceremony, the first promised step towards the new Village Clinic building. According to community members and activists Health MEC Sicelo Gqobana had promised to kick off the building of the clinic last week. Community members and healthcare workers gathered at the site, but were forced to leave later in the day when nothing materialized. Lusikisiki Village Clinic serves up to 7 000 people a month in Qaukeni sub-district in the Eastern Cape. The clinic had been operating out of a building in the centre of Lusikisiki since 2005. In January this year the Eastern Cape Department of Health moved the clinic out of the building and reopened it on an empty plot on the outskirts of town with a park home and two tents now intended to house the clinic. “We have been waiting here the entire

Simpler ARV treatment begins in Eastern Cape

Eight people have been initiated into the new Fixed Dose Combination of ARV treatment at the Magwa Clinic. The new treatment uses one pill, which combines emtricitabine, TDF and efavirenz.

School toilets in shocking state

Millions of people do not have access to proper sanitation and in South African schools the situation is especially dire. Health-e News Service conducted an informal survey of the state of 17 schools’ toilets that fall within four of the National Health Insurance (NHI) pilot districts. At all 17 schools the toilets were in a shocking condition. By OurHealth Reporters.