Eastern Cape limps along
Home to the poorest districts in the country, the Eastern Cape health system continues to be plagued by huge staff shortages, poor management and weak primary care.
Health
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Health matters worsen in KwaZulu-Natal
Despite spending slightly more than the national average on health per person, a number of KwaZulu-Natal's key health indicators are getting worse.
Brand appeal Living with AIDS # 291
'Branded VCT', which used a popular fashion label to get young people to test for HIV late last year, showed that brands have a unique ability to influence society.
Barometer measures the nation’s health
Old Transkei emerges as country's poorest area, while the living is easy in the West Coast.
Primary health care underutilised in Gauteng
South Africa's 'powerhouse', Gauteng is the country's most densely populated province and home to almost 10-million residents (20 % of the population).
Good outcomes for the Western Cape
Always considered the 'rich kid', the Western Cape has committed large amounts of money to primary health care (PHC) and so far it is translating into good health outcomes for the province.
Mpumalanga fails on the health front
Mpumalanga's tuberculosis programme is the worst in the country. Its TB cure rate of 32 percent is the lowest in South Africa and has deteriorated from just under 48 percent in 2003.
NorthWest making small gains
Despite being the second highest spender on primary health care in the country, NorthWest's health system has recorded an average performance.
Free State targets primary health care
The Free State has more than doubled its expenditure on Primary Health Care (PHC) from R91 per patient in 2001 to R221.
Northern Cape battles to control TB
With a surface area covering one third of South Africa and yet only one million residents (2% of the country's population), the Northern Cape should rank high in the healthcare stakes considering the small number of inhabitants it serves.
Limpopo still struggling
Plagued by poverty, drought, inadequate access to basic services and huge inequities, Limpopo faces enormous hurdles in bringing health to its 5,8-million inhabitants.
Promising HIV vaccine trial in SA
An HIV vaccine, which has shown promise internationally, will be tested in the largest vaccine trial in South Africa to date.
Radiation exposed workers want compensation
About 208 former employees of the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (NECSA) in Pelindaba, Pretoria are suffering from asthma, cancer and myetoma.
Although the cause of their illnesses is not clear, it is believed that they are suffering from occupational diseases.
Money as a health intervention
Living with AIDS # 290
A unique programme investigating whether access to money can reduce rural women's vulnerability to HIV, shows that with economic power comes a sense of optimism. Researchers reckon that this leads to better health decisions, reduced health risks and improved gender relations.
Living with AIDS # 290
Microbicide trial failure
The search for an effective and safe anti-HIV microbicide has been dealt a blow with news that two Phase III trials have been halted after evidence that there was potentially an increased risk of HIV infection for women using the substance.