Despite the fact that TB can be cured, TB infection rates in South Africa have almost doubled in the past five years. Against a backdrop of stark statistics the government has committed itself to a plan of action to achieve a cure rate of 85% in the next four years.
Health workers, researchers and international experts will share their knowledge at a workshop which starts today [Tuesday] aimed at setting clear and achievable goals to cut South Africa's shockingly high TB rates over the next four years.
This audio report looks at the impact of the AIDS epidemic on migrant workers from Lesotho who are retrenched and sent home from the South African mines.
The cost of anti-retroviral therapy as well as the complicated logistics that are involved in administering it have been cited as reasons why it is impossible to implement a national programme of this kind in South Africa. However, others argue that not only is anti-retroviral therapy manageable, even a long patients from poor backgrounds, it offers people hope, an important ingredient in the response to HIV/AIDS. This audio report airs different views on the pros and cons of anti-retroviral therapy.
Government cannot afford to treat all terminal AIDS patients in state hospitals. But unless the state invests significant funds in home-based care, it will simply be the cruellest form of privatisation. Kerry Cullinan reports.
Scientists are excited by the reaction of monkeys injected with an AIDS vaccine similar to that which is due to be tested in South Africa within months.
One in four South African children are stunted by malnutrition. Children's organisations are calling for a basic income grant to be given to all children under the age of 18.
While the rest of country is implementing the new smoking legislation that came into effect on Sunday, Cape Town's South Peninsula Municipality is being accused by the ANC of stalling the process. The municipality  is in the process of rescinding a by-law that takes precedence over national law, but the ANC's National Health Secretary Dr Saadiq Karim says they have been given ample time to make the changes and should be fined.
Until access to more affordable AIDS drugs becomes a reality, government has responded as best as they can for those living with HIV, according to NorthWest Health MEC Dr Molefi Sefularo.He said the province'€™s aim was to follow urgently on the mother-to-child transmission pilot phase with the expansion of the programme to the rest of the province. "In the end, no child must be born with a lifespan predetermined by HIV and AIDS to be no more than five years."
None of the rape survivors given anti-retroviral drugs by Sunninghill Hospital has become HIV positive, according to Dr Adrienne Wulfsohn who heads the hospital'€™s accident and emergency unit. Kerry Cullinan reports.
Many concerned South Africans, including radio DJs, have volunteered to be injected with the country'€™s first HIV/AIDS prototype vaccine, according to HIV/AIDS expert Professor Salim Abdool Karim.
The pressure of responsibilty for holding down the top AIDS job in the country weighs heavily on the slight shoulders of Dr Nono Simelela, head of the national HIV/AIDS Directorate. However, there is no doubting her her commitment to facing up to the challenges that confront her.
From Sunday (1 July) the ban on smoking in public places was enforced. Smoking is now only allowed in specially designated areas that do not take up more than 25% of the public space and are separated from the non-smoking area by a solid partition. Kerry Cullinan reports.
In this feature on "Living with AIDS" the World Bank's Dr Mamphela Ramphele speaks about the merits of loans to combat HIV/AIDS. Sue Valentine spoke to Dr Ramphele when she visited South Africa last week and asked her as a medical doctor and as a South African, how she felt about South Africa' s response to HIV/AIDS.
Dr Mamphela Ramphele is one of five managing directors at the World Bank in Washington. On a recent visit home to South Africa she spoke out about the need for African governments to value intellectual rigour, the need for incentives for skilled professionals and the value of investing in anti-retroviral treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS
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