In this final audio report on the divergent experiences of two women taking anti-retroviral therapy under trials run by Somerset Hospital, in Cape Town, we hear about the social issues related to the provision of therapy.
In the previous "Living with AIDS" feature, staff at the De Beers-Botswana diamond mining corporation, Debswana, spoke about the antiretroviral treatment programme offered by the company. In this audio report, some of the peer educators involved in educating their colleagues about HIV/AIDS and possible treatment options speak about the challenges they face.
Government officials glibly talk about "home-based care" to keep terminally AIDS patients from depleting hospital resources. But setting up this care in poor communities is hard and slow, even when organisations have resources.
As government and the Treatment Action Campaign meet in the Constitutional Court, HIV positive mothers and AIDS experts celebrate the effect of Nevirapine in preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission.
How should photographers depict the HIV/AIDS pandemic? In this audio report, award-winning photographer Gideon Mendel talks about his recently launched book, "A Broken Landscape - HIV/AIDS in Africa" and how his approach to taking pictures of people living with HIV/AIDS has changed over time. The book represents almost nine years work and includes photographs taken in Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa. Â
Botswana has one of the highest prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in the world - 38,5% of the country's 2 million people are HIV positive. In the face of these potentially devastating statistics, government and business have introduced a comprehensive response to the impact of the disease. One notable example is the prevention and treatment programme offered by the Debswana diamond mining corporation. Health-e visits one of their mines.
The long-awaited report on a comprehensive social security system for South Africa was released for public comment this week. Social Development minister Dr Zola Skweyiya acknowledges the need for a basic income grant and urgent measures to assist the orphans and those living in dire poverty. But he cautions that Government does not have the money or the resources to tackle this alone. He spoke to Health-e.
South Africa's battle against HIV/AIDS has been given a massive $165-million (about R1,8-billion) boost from the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria - almost double the national HIV/AIDS budget of R1-billion for this year.
Ground-breaking research aimed at using short courses of anti-retroviral drugs to boost the long-term immunity of babies with HIV is due to begin within weeks at St Mary's Hospital in Marianhill, outside Durban.
The cost of antiretroviral drugs means that many poor people are unable to access such treatment. One way in which some doctors assist their patients is to offer them access to antiretroviral drug trials. At Somerset Hospital in Cape Town some people in Stage 3 of AIDS are offered a combination of registered medicines as well as drugs that are still going through the final stages of development before registration. In this audio report, Khopotso Bodibe talks to two women - one is still participating in the trials and another who has withdrawn due to problems that arose during treatment.
Taking anti-retrovirals as part of a drug trial requires much more than the desire to recover one's health. It requires commitment to a drug regimen that involves rigorous adherence to swallowing a number of pills. Without the necessary counselling - and psychological and emotional support - it is very difficult to stay on the programme successfully and complete the treatment. In this audio report two women who have been on ARV therapy in a drug trial programme run by Somerset Hospital in Cape Town tell of their experiences. One of them, Elaine Maane, opted to pull out from the research.
A global initiative, formed to mobilise society in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, has launched a campaign to force countries to drop import taxes on treated mosquito nets in an attempt to control the malaria epidemic. The initiative aims to hold governments accountable to commitments made in the Abuja Declaration signed two years ago, in which African states promised to reduce the costs of mosquito nets and insecticides. South Africa is one of several countries which has yet to make good on its promises. Anso Thom reports.
In the first ever study tracking the safety of blood transfusions in SA, the SA National Blood Service (SANBS) found that local blood services are as safe as those in any developed country. Kathryn Strachan reports.
President Thabo Mbeki himself spurred Cabinet to decide that anti-retroviral drugs should be given to rape survivors, according to a Cabinet source who spoke exclusively to Health-e News Service. Kerry Cullinan reports.
Providing nevirapine to pregnant women was inevitable and would probably have been rolled out at the end of the year had a Constitutional Court ruling not forced her to announce it sooner, said Health minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. In an exclusive interview,  she  talks about the surprise decision to provide anti-Aids drugs to rape survivors and calls on South Africans to tackle the epidemic as partners, not enemies.
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