HIV and AIDS are wreaking havoc in households and communities. As breadwinners succumb to AIDS-related infections they lose their ability to earn a living and families become poor and vulnerable. Orphaned children are left to eke out a living however they can. In a village in Limpopo, Health-e News Service meets some of those who are doing their best to help.
Read More » Helping them help themselvesLiving with AIDS #168The non-adherence to a Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) treatment regimen as well as a lack of follow through on general health check-ups are common problems among patients who seek post-rape assistance. Zoleka Nqonqoza, coordinator at Ncedo Rape Centres in Port Elizabeth, says patients need to understand that it is vital to complete prescribed treatment. She adds that it is even more important in the case of PEP because survivors are at risk of contracting HIV if they do not follow doctors orders.
Read More » PEP adherence essential
Rape survivors are entitled to get PEP within 72 hours of the incident from their PEP designated public clinics. Zoleka Nqonqoza a Rape Crisis Coordinator of Ncedo Rape Centres in Port Elizabeth explains the extent of rape cases they receive and how PEP works.
Read More » Post Exposure Prophylaxis
In the absence of easily available and affordable access to AIDS treatment, the burden of care for those who are sick falls on individual households, NGOs and faith-based organisations who respond to the needs they see around them. Health-e News meets care-giver, Caiphas Mohale of Bolobedu, in Tzaneen, Limpopo province.
Read More » Called to care. Living with AIDSNa ekaba motho o qhobjwa ke eng hore a nehellane ka nako ya hae bakeng sa ho hlokomela bakudi, ba dikobo mahetleng kapa ba makgatheng a lefu, ebeng ha a fumane le ha e le sente a ditshila? Jwalo ka ha meriane ya ho kokobetse lefu ho ba kulang ke mafu a Phamokathe, mosebetsi wa ho hlokomela bakudi o wela mahetleng a beng ba mokudi, mekgatlo e ikemetseng esita le yona ya sedumedi. Tlalehong ena re utlwa ho tswa ho Caiphas Mohale, e mong wa ba inehetseng ho thusa batho ba ka tlasa kodua ya Phamokathe, motseng wa Bolobedu, profenseng ya Limpopo.
Read More » Pitso ya ho baballaNew data released this week by the World Health Organisation reveals that tuberculosis patients in parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia are 10 times more likely to have Multi-Drug-Resistant TB than in the rest of the world.
Read More » E. Europe, Central Asia bear bulk of drug-resistant TBMehleng ena, Natalia Baloyi o ena le lebaka la ho bososela. Pale ya hae ke e supisang hore le ha ho ka eba boima jwang, katleho e tla finyelleha ha feela motho o ena le tshepo le maikemisetso. Lemong tse ka bang tharo tse fetileng, a ena le dilemo tse 22, Natalia o ne a sa sebetse, a bile a hlokomela lelapa labo la dikgaitsedi tse tharo le ngwana e mong eo e leng wa hae. Sena ka mora hore batswadi ba hae ba hlokahale ka mora hore ba kule. Ho hopolwa hore ba nkuwa ke lefu la Phamokathe. Ka mora lemo tsena Health-e News Service e boela e etela Natalia motseng wa habo wa Marironi, Tzaneen, Limpopo.
Read More » ‘Ho entswe ke Modimo’
Natalia Baloyi has a lot to smile about these days. Hers is a tale of what hope and determination can help one achieve in times of trouble. Almost three years ago, as a 22 year-old Natalia was unemployed and head of a household with three siblings and a son of her own following the death of her parents from a suspected AIDS-related disease. Health-e goes back to the young women we first met in 2001 at her home in Marironi village outside Tzaneen in Limpopo province.
Read More » It’s something from God Living with AIDS
Memory box and body map outreach worker Nondumiso Hlwele talks about how the project has helped her define her past and face her future. It's also unearthed her talent for drawing and depicting the world around her.
Read More » Mapping our livesLiving with AIDS #164This week we hear from people living with AIDS who readily admit they owe their lives to the support and information they receive from being part of an organisation committed to securing access to treatment.
Read More » Stories of survivalLiving with AIDS #163In the space of five years, the Western Cape has set up prevention of mother-to-child treatment sites throughout the province as well as providing antiretroviral treatment on a limited basis. Health-e asked the head of the AIDS Programme in the Western Cape, Dr. Fareed Abdullah to share the lessons they've learned over the past 10 years.
Read More » W.Cape’s rapid responseThe relationship between the South African government and the Clinton Foundation, which helped procure low cost antiretroviral drugs for the country's long-awaited AIDS treatment programme, appears to have broken down.
Read More » Another spanner in the ARV works?
In the 10 years since our first democratic election in 1994, the HIV prevalence rate among pregnant women has risen from 7.6 percent to 26.5 percent. Ignorance, fear and prejudice have defined the reponse to HIV/AIDS in many countries and South Africa has been no different. However, a key organisation that has emerged to defend the rights of people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS is the Treatment Action Campaign. Health-e looks at how activists have risen to the challenge.
Read More » A decade of AIDS
The national treatment plan for HIV and AIDS offers a new opportunity to dispel some of the myths about the virus and to educate people about the epidemic and how best to take care of themselves. The development of this vital communications campaign is already under way.
Read More » Spreading the wordLiving with AIDS # 162Pressure is mounting on government to honour its promise to roll out an HIV and AIDS Care and Treatment Plan. The plan had aimed to have 53 000 patients on treatment by the end of March 2004, however, it is clear this deadline won't be met. Health-e News Service finds out why.
Read More » Rolling back the roll-out