
Mothers need anti-AIDS drugs too
One of the country's most respected medical doctors, Professor Jerry Coovadia, yesterday called on the government to supply anti-retroviral drugs for HIV positive mothers.

One of the country's most respected medical doctors, Professor Jerry Coovadia, yesterday called on the government to supply anti-retroviral drugs for HIV positive mothers.
While anti-retroviral drugs for mineworkers remain out of reach, most mines have well developed HIV/AIDS strategies.
Natalia Baloi of Marirone, outside Tzaneen in the Northern Province, is a 22-year old unemployed single mother of a six year old boy. But now she finds herself not only being a mother to one child, but four others, the oldest of which is 17 years old. These added children are her younger siblings for whom she has to care since their parents died of an Aids-related disease. Although Natalia feels the responsibility to look after her siblings, she reveals that it is a very difficult task. This audio report is in Sesotho.
The question of child prostitution and how to deal with sex tourists who visit South Africa looking for children for sex were among those raised at the Sex Tourism conference held recently in Cape Town. The conference was convened as a result of the growing number of South African children who are being dragged into prostitution here at home, while others are being trafficked out of the country. This audio report is in Sesotho.
The most vulnerable victims of Aids in South Africa are children. When parents die, they are often left alone to fend for themselves and their siblings. Sometimes, this means leaving school and losing their identity as a normal child. Fortunately for Elvis Lerole of Maupye in the Northern Province, he still goes to school. But instead of playing with his friends after class, he herds relatives' cattle for R400 a month. This meagre amount is the only income supporting Elvis and his sister - as well as the aunt, uncle and cousins they stay with ever since their parents died. This audio report is in Sesotho.
The South African government and the legal system come under fire for ignoring the plight of child prostitutes at a recent conference on sex tourism held in Cape Town. This audio report is in Sesotho.
The Roman Catholic Church has come under criticism for its view that condoms should not be seen as a means to fight the spread of Aids. Little credit is given though to the work the Church does to help those infected and affected by Aids, as well as its prevention education methods. In Tzaneen in the Northern Province, the Catholic Church has put together a programme called Education for Life, through which it teaches people about the dangers of AIDS and how to deal with the challenges put forward by the epidemic. And crucial to this programme is the need to address people's daily needs, like providing them with food. This audio report is in Sesotho.
In Umzimkulu in the former Transkei, chiefs and pastors chastise the youth for contracting HIV and reprimand them at funerals as they bury those who have died. In this judgemental environment, very few young people will test for HIV, let alone disclose their status. Nozuko Ngcaweni is a remarkable exception. She is determined not only to speak out, but to educate her community so that midwives can take precautions when delivering babies and parents and children can begin to talk to each other.
Government affidavits filed in response to a court challenge by the Treatment Action Campaign say the slow introduction of nevirapine through 18 pilot sites is rational and responsible.
The use of antiretroviral drugs had led to a dramatic and incredible decline in deaths and hospitalisation of Aids patients in the US. At a recent conference in Johannesburg, South Africa was urged to find ways of making the treatment widely available and to learn from other countries about the best ways to implement it.
There is no single "face of AIDS". It is not black or white, old or young, homosexual or heterosexual. HIV knows no boundaries or stereotypes. In this audio report, one man speaks about the need to see people with HIV/AIDS as multi-dimensional people who, besides being HIV positive, live full and active lives.
Despite the stigma that all too often accompanies people who declare their HIV positive status, a 26-year old woman in a small town in the Eastern Cape is determined to talk to her community to educate them about the virus and to get on with her life.
The head of the HIV/AIDS directorate in the Department of Health, Dr Nono Simelela, has spoken out strongly against the increase in HIV infection and pregnancy among girls under 18 who are being forced into having sex by older men. She has urged communities to work together to protect their children and communities against HIV/AIDS. This report is in isiXhosa.

By far the bulk of new drugs developed by the leading pharmaceutical companies cater for diseases of people in wealthy countries rather than the poor. Although people in developing countries make up about 80% of the world 's population, they represent only about 20% of worldwide medicine sales.

In the Northern Province, villages are being ravaged by poverty and HIV/AIDS. Health-e reports.