The Global Campaign for Microbicides has hit out at the lack of interest by large pharmaceutical companies to urgently develop a microbicide that could protect women against HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Health minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has kicked off the New Year with the launch of a new plan aimed at tackling the unacceptably high tuberculosis (TB) rate in the country. The minister said it was 'not simply another piece of planning on paper'.
US doctors have come up with a new potential treatment for HIV infection that involves boosting the body's immune system so it can fight the virus more effectively.
The AIDS helpline exists to offer advice and information to anyone wanting to know more about HIV and AIDS. Should I have an HIV test or not? What can I do if I discover I'm HIV positive? Who can I talk to about any concerns I have? Informed support is literally just a phone call away, on 0800-012-322.
Twenty years into the AIDS pandemic, condoms remain the only protection humanity has against the transmission of the HI virus during sex ' which is why interest in the female condom is growing.
While anti-retroviral drugs for mineworkers remain out of reach, most mines have well-developed HIV/AIDS strategies.
Laboratory rats deprived of sleep die within two to three weeks. A lack of sleep in humans makes us less productive and more accident prone. Kerry Cullinan takes a look at what researchers do and don't know about getting a good night's sleep. Next time your partner kicks you in his sleep, be tolerant. He may have "restless leg syndrome" ' one of a range of problems causing sleep disorders.
Health workers and AIDS activists have applauded the Pretoria High Court decision which instructs government to extend their mother-to-child HIV transmission prevention programme throughout the country. In this editorial, Kerry Cullinan welcomes the judgment.
A lack of treatment and care options, excessive workloads and defence against self-traumatisation are some of the reasons why doctors at Red Cross Children's Hospital do not form close bonds with their AIDS patients.
The Commission for Gender Equality claims virginity testing is sexist and unconstitutional. But the testers say they are saving girls from teenage pregnancy and HIV/AIDS.
The old traditional practice of virginity testing has been undergoing a revival in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands in an effort to protect girls and young women from HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Those in favour of the ritual say this is a valuable tradition that is not a "test", but a voluntary inspection and one in which young women are eager to participate.
A pilot project in Khayelitsha, Cape Town is hoping to show that it is possible to dispense antiretroviral therapy to people living in peri-urban, poor communities provided proper counselling and monitoring is in place. Matthew Damane has been taking a triple combination of drugs since June and is firmly convinced of the benefits the medication has made to his life.
With a prevalence rate of almost 39 percent and some 300 000 of its 1,9 million people estimated to be HIV positive, Botswana has taken bold steps to address the AIDS epidemic in their country. But even with government commitment and so many people affected, stigma runs deep and only a handful of Batswana have spoken openly about living with HIV/AIDS. In this audio package we hear about the origins of stigma, what is being done to support those who are HIV positive and about the antiretroviral therapy programme that goverment is rolling out over the coming weeks.
A group of African HIV/AIDS specialists representing 10 of the worst affected countries on the continent, including South African HIV/AIDS scientist Professor Hoosen Coovadia, is calling for 30% of the United Nations Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to be allocated towards making medicines for HIV/AIDS universally accessible. The group, led by Coovadia, met in Nairobi recently.
Traditional healers and medical doctors alike are singing the praises of an immune-boosting medicinal plant, Sutherlandia, which they say offers hope to people living with HIV who cannot afford expensive drugs.
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