Cure the pain, kill the patient
A British study shows that the chronic use of pain killers commonly used for arthritis leads to the death of some two thousand patients each year. South African specialists confirm these findings.
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Grandmother keeps family together
Living with AIDS # 12
The impact of HIV/AIDS on the generation of young parents has resulted in many grandparents assuming responsibility for their orphaned grandchildren. Effective programmes of treatment and care would not only enable parents to live longer, healthier lives, they can also reduce the rate of mother to child transmission of HIV and ensure the birth of healthier children who do not need constant medical care.
Living with AIDS # 12
Look back in anger?
The past 11 months have seen HIV/AIDS assume the spotlight in South Africa as never before. However, despite all the meetings, protests and discussions, people have continued to die from AIDS-related symptoms and the numbers of AIDS orphans and HIV positive babies have continued to climb. In this article, we take a month by month look at AIDS in South Africa in 2000.
Can South African men make a difference?
South Africa has the largest HIV/AIDS population in the world and one of the fastest growing epidemics, with one in four women between the ages of 20 and 29 already infected with the virus. However, for the first time there are signs that HIV incidence '€“ the annual number of new infections - may have stabilised in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. JO STEIN reports.
Paediatricians demand life-saving drugs
Living with AIDS – part 11
On World AIDS Day, December 1, paediatricians around the country will hand in petitions to their respective MECs for Health. Their call is for government to provide the affordable, anti-retroviral drug Nevirapine to help prevent the transmission of HIV from mothers to their babies. This action is in response to the growing frustration and despondency among doctors who are left virtually helpless in the face of the epidemic and can offer little more than palliative care to their patients. Health-e spoke to a paediatrician who works at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.
Living with AIDS – part 11
Sent home to die
Caring for the terminally ill with AIDS is emotionally taxing. Kerry Cullinan visits some carers in Daveyton
Paediatricians take on government
Today (Dec1) paediatricians throughout the country are launching a protest campaign against government?s failure to fast-track plans to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.An estimated 200 HIV positive babies are born every day in South Africa, but this figure could be halved if all HIV positive mothers were given anti-retroviral drugs during pregnancy and labour. KERRY CULLINAN reports.
Paediatricians take on government
On World AIDS Day (Dec.1) paediatricians throughout the country launched a protest campaign against government'€™s failure to fast-track plans to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.An estimated 200 HIV positive babies are born every day in South Africa, but this figure could be halved if all HIV positive mothers were given anti-retroviral drugs during pregnancy and labour. KERRY CULLINAN reports.
Is it too late to stem the AIDS tide?
Will South Africa be able to stem the tide before it is too late? Will the country show a commitment towards finding innovative ways to treat the already more than four million people living with HIV/AIDS or providing a sanctuary for the millions of orphans that will result from the epidemic? Or will our response continue to be questions related to the link between HIV and AIDS, the toxicity of drugs such as AZT or the vested interests of the drug companies. Anso Thom reports
Government moves towards treatment
In a wide-ranging, exclusive interview, Dr Nono Simelela, head of government'€™s HIV/AIDS Directorate, spells out to Kerry Cullinan how government is fighting the epidemic.
Accent on the positive
Today is World AIDS day. A key figure leading the government's programme to combat the disease is the Chief Director of the national HIV/AIDS Directorate, Dr Nono Simelela. In an exclusive interview with Health-e News Service she looked back at what has and hasn't been accomplished and what areas government is prioritising for the future.
Gauteng builds its armoury against HIV/AIDS
For once, it's good news. Gauteng is getting it right in its fight against HIV/AIDS.
Why children need to hear about sex
How did you learn about sex? From your parents, your friends, books or magazines? South Africans of all cultural backgrounds share a common awkwardness and reluctance to talk about sex. We might all say that sex is normal and natural, but we don't always behave that way. Sex is something that is whispered about, or worse still, never discussed at all. But when a sexually transmitted virus has the potential to decimate our society - it's time the conversation began. In this series of four articles, we speak to parents, a school guidance councillor and a clinic nurse who talk about the difficulty - but the necessity - of talking to children about sex and sexuality.
More than 4-million living with HIV/AIDS in SA
For the first time there are signs that HIV incidence may have stabilised in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. But with 4,2-million infected people, South Africa has the largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world. Anso Thom reports on the latest UNAIDS/WHO report
Living positively
Mercy Makhalemele has been thrown out of home, fired from her job, rejected and beaten, all because people discovered she was HIV positive. She is now open and outspoken about her life and the virus she lives with. Listen to her talk about living with AIDS.