Health workers will continue to get anti-retroviral drugs for needlestick injuries, despite a decision by the ANC'€™s National Executive Committee (NEC) that this practice should stop. Kerry Cullinan reports.
The South African trial of an HIV vaccine is in a state of animated suspension. The clinical sites of Baragwanath Hospital and the Durban Medical Research Council (MRC) have been chosen and approval has been received from the Wits University ethics committee. All that the National Institute for Virology, which is co-ordinating the process, is waiting for now is the go-ahead from the Medicines Control Council, and it is hoped that the trials can begin towards the middle of the year.
It will take a decade before a vaccine against malaria, described as one of the greatest causes of misery in endemic countries, is developed, according to Dr Regina Rabinovich, director of the Malaria Vaccine Initiative. With between three and five million cases per year and three deaths every minute (mostly children), the need for a malaria vaccine is as urgent as one to prevent HIV infection. ANSO THOM reports.
Ten out of 14 vaccine manufacturers have partially or totally stopped production of traditional childhood vaccines, creating shortages serious enough to jeopardise immunisation programmes in both developing and industrialised countries. ANSO THOM reports.
When the Baragwanath Perinatal HIV Research Unit submitted its list of items that needed to be financed as part of the forthcoming HIV vaccine trials, it made for interesting reading: included on the list is R600 for a sacrificial goat.
In many communities around the country, it is volunteers who are the backbone in helping care for those who are sick with AIDS-related illnesses. Bambisanani is one such non-governmental organisation based in the Eastern Cape. Through the efforts of its volunteer caregivers in Umzimkhulu, Lusikisiki and Bizana, it offers free HIV counseling and helps care for those who are sick at home. The project was formed in 1999 in conjuction with the private sector and the Eastern Cape Department of Health. This audio report is in isiXhosa.
Fear and stigma continue to undermine efforts to address openly the impact of HIV/AIDS on our society. A short drive from Port Shepstone in KwaZulu-Natal, Mrs Mtimkulu, a grandmother, is single-handedly raising her grand-daughter Siyanda following the death of Siyanda's mother from an AIDS-related disease. In this audio report, Mrs Mtimkulu and Penny Gwacela, a home-based workers with the South Coast Hospice, explain the additional problem of stigma that the family face.
This week the largest ever international medical research project into the link between the formation of deep vein thrombosis and flying will be launched by Wits University and the National Health Laboratory Service. A thousand passengers flying between London and Johannesburg will take part in the study.
South Africa and the US were working together to strengthen their efforts in the fight against HIV/Aids, US Health Secretary Tommy Thompson said yesterday (Thursday) on his first official visit to Africa.
About 200 destitute HIV positive mothers and 383 children in Gauteng will soon have a place to stay, thanks to the efforts of AIDS activist Gail Johnson. Since her adopted son Nkosi died of AIDS last year, Johnson has been working flat-out to raise money to buy two properties to accommodate HIV positive women, their children and AIDS orphans. Kerry Cullinan reports.
The South African National Council for Child Welfare has urged parents and communities to take full responsibility for their children's safety and to prevent crimes of abuse against their children. In this audio report, the national director of the Council Andre Kalis says children have the right to be cared for, well looked after and protected from injury and harm.
Exactly what infrastructure and staff are needed in order for a clinic or hospital to offer effective prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission? There is no doubt about the urgency of expanding such services - 70 000 HIV positive babies are born in South Africa each year - but implementing an effective service requires more than dispensing a pill.
A laboratory in the basement of the medical school at the University of Cape Town serves around 90% of clinics and hospitals in the Western Cape. Although based at the University of Cape Town, the laboratory falls under the authority of the National Health Laboratory Services. In this audio report, Dr Dianna Hardie is a senior specialist in the Virology Department and explains how the Elisa test is carried out.
How safe is the antiretroviral drug Nevirapine? Last week, the withdrawal of an application by the manufacturers of Nevirapine to register it with the United States Food And Drug Administration was allowed to generate considerable concern and confusion in South African medical and political circles about the safety and efficacy of the medication. On Tuesday, a trans-Atlantic link with leading scientists in the US and South Africa categorically laid these concerns to rest and clarified the nature of the application to register the drug.
Documents circulating in government circles have once again disputed the link between HIV and AIDS and questioned scientific knowledge and practice in relation to the HI virus. In this audio package, acclaimed South African scientist, Dr Carolyn Williamson, who last year received the World Technology Award for Health & Medicine in recognition of her efforts to find an AIDS vaccine, speaks about the scientific evidence.
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