With antiretroviral medication now becoming an integral part of AIDS treatment in the public health sector, there are concerns that prevention efforts might feature less prominently. However, it is essential that South Africans change their sexual behaviour to protect themselves from HIV and understand how treatment works. Dr Zola Ntshona, gynaecology and obstetrics specialist at the Polokwane provincial hospital in Limpopo, shares her experiences.

Jwalo ka ha meriana ya lefu la Phamokathe e kena tshebeletsong ya tsa bophelo bo botle, tshabo e teng ya hore mosebetsi wa ho hlokomedisa setjhaba ho itsherelletsa kgahlano le tshwaetso ena o tla salla moraho. Empa, ho molemo hore batho ba hlokomele hore ba se tshwaetsehe le hore na meriana ena e sebetsa jwang. Ngaka Zola Ntshona a sebetsang ka mafu a bomme sepetleleng sa profense ya Limpopo, o bua ka ho otlolloha mabapi le ditaba tsena.

Bekeng ena Khopotso Bodibe wa tshebeletso ya ditaba ya Health-e, o re isa motsaneng wa Maupye, Limpopo, moo re tla teana le moshemanyana eo e sa le mo qetela lemong tse batlang di ba tharo tse sa tswa feta ha a lekola maphelo a bana ba dikgutsana ka mora hore batswadi ba bona ba nkuwe le lefu la Phamokathe.

Tlalehong ya ron aya ho qetela e hlahlobisang ditokisetso tsa dipetlele le ditleniki tsa mmuso Gauteng ho bula ditshebeletso tsa ho hlokomela bakudi ba Phamokathe ka meriana e kokobisang lefu lena, Health-e News Service e etela Johannesburg General Hospital.

Ka letsatsi la boraro ho tloha kajeno, ka la 1 Mmesa, profense ya Gauteng e tla be e qala ho fepa batho ba kulang ka mafu a Phamokathe meriana ya mahala. Dipetlele tsa Johannesburg, Chris Hani Baragwanath, Helen Joseph, Coronation le Kalafong ke tsona tsa ho qala tse tlang ho fana ka thuso ena. Kgweding tse robedi tse latelang ho tla bulwa ditshebeletso tse ding tse leshome le metso e robedi hare ho profense. Khopotso Bodibe wa Health-e News Service o re tlisetsa tlaleho ena ya ho qala ho tswa ho tse tharo, ka mora hore a etele tse ding tsa ditshebeletso tse tlang ho bulwa ka labone.

In our third and final focus on how public health centres are gearing up for the
AIDS treament roll-out, Health-e News Service, visited the Johannesburg General Hospital.

Tlalehong ya rona ya bobedi ho bona ka moo dipetlele le ditleniki di itokisetsang ho qala ho hlokomela bakudi ba Phamokathe ka meriana ya antiretrovirals ka tlase ho lenaneo le letjha la mmuso, Health-e News Service e ile ya etela tleniki ya batho ba baholo ya Phamokathe, e sepetleleng sa Chris Hani Baragwanath. Teng ba ile ba buisana le Dr Alan Karstaedt, molaodi wa tleniki.

In our second feature looking at how some of the of the centres earmarked to provide HIV and AIDS treatment under the government'€™s roll-out plan, Health-e News Service visited the adult AIDS clinic at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, and met Dr Alan Karstaerdt, Director of the centre.

On the 1st of April, the province of Gauteng will for the first time see HIV and AIDS treatment made available to the general public. The Johannesburg, Chris Hani Baragwanath, Helen Joseph, Coronation and Kalafong hospitals will be the first in line to roll out the service. Eighteen other centres will follow over an eight-month period. In the first of a series Health-e News Service looks at what preparations some of the centres are making.

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.

TB can be cured '€“ yet it is one of the biggest killers in the world. The World Health Organisation estimates that unless controls are strengthened, up to 36 million people will die from TB between now and 2020. While it takes on average six months to treat TB at a cost of about R400, Multi-Drug Resistant TB can take 18 months to cure at a cost of R20 000. Xolani Sonkqayi is a 14- year old boy from Guguletu who was diagnosed with MDR-TB last September and is being treated at the Brooklyn Chest Hospital

Ha lefu la Phamokathe le hlasela sono se aparelang malapa le metse ke sena se rothisang pelo madi. Qetellong ba okametseng malapa ba iphumana e le hore ha ba sa kgona ho sebetsa kapa hona ho iphumanela masheleng ha lefu le ntse le ya le ata mebeleng ya bona. Hona ho tlisa tlala le tlhopheho. Hangata bana ba sala e le dikgutsana ebe ba tlameha ho iketsetsa bophelo ka tsela tse fapafapaneng. Nakong e kgolo o fumana e le hore ha ho moo thuso e hlahang teng. Le ha ho le jwalo tshepo e teng, jwalo ka ha re utlwa tlalehong e latelang.

The 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.

New 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.