Next time you get a sexually transmitted infection (STI), it may be worth your while to go to your local clinic rather than slinking off to see a private doctor. Researchers have found that the much-maligned government clinics are better at treating STIs than the average general practitioner (GP).
Two hearts beating as one. No, this is not the title of the latest Hollywood blockbuster or a pop song. It's a reality in the life of 37-year-old Paul Thesen.His life story could quite easily be a big hit, almost too incredible to be true.
Lack of male involvement in government's prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission programme (PMTCT) is undermining its success, according to HSRC researcher Dr Christine Varga. Kerry Cullinan reports.
Stronger warning labels will be added to paracetamol sold in the United States in an effort to curb accidental overdoses that have lead to hundreds of deaths in that country. Anso Thom reports.
The way South African men construct their identity plays a major role in the health and well being of families and communities in this country. Anso Thom spoke to one man who is trying to demystify masculinity.
Half its patients die of AIDS, and 54% of pregnant women are HIV-infected. In the absence of any national HIV/AIDS treatment plan, the tiny and embattled St Mary's Hospital has started its own projects to try to restore hope to its community
Sam Ndunyana is a peer educator who works at the Mercedes Benz Body Plant at Daimler Chrysler in East London. On Mondays peer educators are allocated 10 minutes to educate and do talks on HIV related issues to their fellow colleagues in the canteens. Ndunyana says this has been an eye opener for him on HIV related issues he was not aware of. Thandeka Teyise compiled this report.
Nearly 3-million AIDS deaths can be averted and over 2,5-million HIV infections prevented in the next 13 years by implementing voluntary counselling and testing, mother to child transmission prevention, improved management of sexually transmitted infections and anti-retroviral therapy.This is one of the key findings in a long-awaited report on the costs and benefits of treating HIV/AIDS, released by the Treatment Action Campaign. TAC commissioned the University of Cape Town's Centre for Actuarial Researche to investigate the various treatment and prevention interventions of the HIV epidemic. TAC took the model a step further and calculated the cost of adult anti-retroviral therapy - the cost gradually increases from R224-million in 2002 to R6,8-billion in 2007 to a peak of R18,1-billion in 2015.
They say that it takes a thief to catch another thief. Conversely, when it comes to HIV it can be said that it is much easier for a person living with the HI-virus to convincingly offer counselling and support to a recently diagnosed individual, or to one another. Khopotso Bodibe of Health-e News Service, spent time with two AIDS counsellors at the clinic during a debriefing session and spoke with them about the benefits of giving their time to helping other HIV-infected women.
Over the last two weeks in our Living with AIDS slot, we have attempted to piece together the rationale behind the Medicines Control Council's review of nevirapine, the drug used in 18 government pilot sites to help prevent HIV infected women from transmitting the virus on to their babies. In our final instalment we talk to AIDS activists who are confident that the drug ' hailed by campaigners, doctors, researchers and scientists around the world as a potential life-saver ' will not be de-registered. Khopotso Bodibe of Health-e News Service, reports.
The outcome of the Medicines Control Council's review of the prevention of mother to child HIV transmission drug, nevirapine, is expected to be announced before the end of this month. The review of the drug caused confusion and concern in medical circles and among HIV/AIDS lobby groups after a newspaper report in early August suggested that the MCC was planning to 'ban' nevirapine after a 'secret' meeting with the drug's manufacturers, Boehringer-Ingelheim. But, in this report by Khopotso Bodibe of Health-e News Service, we discover that there has never been any intention to ban or de-register the PMTCT drug.
In order for the Medicines Control Council (MCC) to make its final decision on the continued use of nevirapine for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission in South Africa, the National Institutes of Health in the United States has to furnish it with documents detailing the drug's trials in Uganda between 1997 and 1999.
Over the two decades of its manifestation in sub-Saharan Africa, HIV/AIDS continues to point to a major barrier that has not been addressed. And that is the development of a network of clinicians who can properly diagnose AIDS related infections as well as treat the disease safely and effectively. To fill this gap in South Africa, the South African Medical Association, through its educational arm ' the Foundation for Professional Development ' has developed an HIV/AIDS Clinical Management Course. The course is aimed at equipping doctors with the knowledge and skills to deal with the challenge presented by HIV/AIDS. Khopotso Bodibe of Health-e News Service, reports.
The Eastern Cape has a 21.7 percent HIV prevalence rate, the sixth highest in the country. This has an impact on the workforce in the motor industry, one of the biggest employers in the region.
In this second interview at the Daimler Chrysler in East London, Sister Nokuthula Matyeshana of the HIV/AIDS Clinic at the plant explains how she co-ordinates various aspects of the company's policy with regard to the health of workers. We also hear from Person With Aids (PWA ) who urged colleagues and friends to come forward and be tested.
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