
Activists don’t endorse new government HIV & TB plan
South Africa’s guide to addressing HIV and TB for the next five years does not have the support of key activists, who are also critical about how the plan was drawn up.

South Africa’s guide to addressing HIV and TB for the next five years does not have the support of key activists, who are also critical about how the plan was drawn up.

The recent introduction of a youth-friendly service at Masakhane Clinic in Alexandra township has been heralded by many young people as a move that will encourage them to access public health care more often and easily.

The South African National Blood Service (SANBS) is facing a serious shortage of type O blood with just over a day and a half supply in its blood banks across the country. The blood donor organisation has appealed to citizens to make donations as a matter of urgency and become regular blood donors.

A production by the National Children’s Theatre brings to light the shocking normalisation and risks of the pervasive blesser-blessee phenomenon in South Africa writes Kim Harrisberg.

Sick patients have been forced to leave their beds at the Holy Cross Hospital and head outside to a nearby stream to fetch their own water because taps in the government health facility ran dry.

It has been almost 10 years since the psychiatric ward in Tshilidzini Hospital outside of Thohoyandou in Limpopo was burnt down – and still it has not been restored or repaired.

“Right now what I need and want is not important,” said a 12-year-old boy who spends his days begging for money.

SOWETO – A door-to-door campaign conducted at Jabulani Hostel in honour of TB awareness month revealed that while many residents are infected, a high number of them have been defaulting on their treatment.

A 17 year-old teenager has been on suicide watch after attempting to abort her 16-week pregnancy – believe to be the result of rape.

Recent protest action by angry residents at Duduza in Ekurhuleni has left sick people in a vulnerable position after their local clinic was so badly damaged it can no longer function.

A death threat, an angry phone call from an MEC – clearly, a parliamentary oversight visit to Mpumalanga touched raw nerves. But this is good news for patients, who have suffered enough in the province.

The new plan that to guide South Africa’s fight against HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) fails to address some of “the drivers of the epidemics”, like overcrowding and sexual violence in prisons.

The South African National Strategic Plan on HIV, TB and STIs 2017 - 2022 (NSP) will guide South Africa's fight against these diseases.

After years of complaints by residents in Limpopo’s Vhembe district about the poor conditions at Siloam Hospital, the National Department of Health has stepped in to re-build the entire facility.

Disadvantaged rural communities in parts of KwaZulu Natal are at risk of contracting scabies from exposure to pets with sarcoptic mange.