National ARV rollout sluggish
Political prevarication and weak management has hampered the implementation of the Operational Plan for Comprehensive HIV and AIDS Care, Management and Treatment for South Africa a new report has found.
Health Systems
Read More » National ARV rollout sluggish
Provincial priorities
Seven of the nine provinces recently presented their health budgets to the portfolio committee in Parliament. Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal have still to appear. Health-e sat in on the presentations.
End of the corner pharmacy?
Government and pharmacists squared up in the Cape High Court in June, but should consumers be signing petitions in support of their corner pharmacies or should their biggest concern be whether they are paying a fair price for medicine?
Reaching out in the Northern Cape
Hospitals and clinics in rural towns of the Northern Cape have teams of dedicated health workers who assist community service health workers. Health-e visited the Garies Primary Health Care Clinic and spoke to Sister Pierrette Rossouw, who says that health care in the region has improved immensely in the past 10 years.
Drinking ourselves to death?
Government claims its long-promised regulations aimed at curbing alcohol abuse will 'soon' be published for public comment. But how should it deal with excessive drinking when alcohol is so much part of South African culture?
Northern Cape ‘ the Spaces Between
Teenage pregnancies, alcohol abuse and poverty are key health concerns in the Northern Cape, the country's largest and sparsest province.
A story of two orphans
International Children's Day today (June 1) has led to renewed calls for children to receive lifesaving social grants. But many still receive nothing. Elvis Lerale and Theresa Chabalala are both orphans and live in Limpopo. Health-e first visited them three years ago and returned recently to Maupye and Radoo villages to find that one of them has secured a social grant, while the other still lives in abject poverty.
Mpumalanga ‘ Turning the Corner
Mpumalanga province's health department, once viewed as corrupt and inept, is experiencing a healthy revival.
The power of one
One person can make a difference. Ask those who work with or who are treated by the jazz-loving maverick Dr Zola Ntshona, an obstetrician at the Polokwane hospital.
KwaZulu-Natal struggling to keep up
Two million out of 9,4 million KwaZulu-Natal residents who live mostly in rural areas and informal settlements still don't have adequate care in South Africa's most populous province.
Death and dying
Each year the Red Cross Children's Hospital in Cape Town treats about 170 000 children aged from 0 to 12 years. Many come from Mozambique, Malawi, Kenya and elsewhere in Africa and many of them are suffering from terminal illnesses. But how do health workers cope with the trauma of losing the young patients who have become part of their lives?
KZN struggles to keep up
Two million out of 9,4 million KwaZulu-Natal residents who live mostly in rural areas and informal settlements still don't have adequate care in South Africa's most populous province.
ARVs trickle into LesothoLiving with AIDS #173
Despite its small population of around 2.2 million, the mountain kingdom of Lesotho is concerned that its HIV transmission rate is increasing. The official prevalence rate is 31%. Only a handful, about 5% of the infected, pay for treatment provided by the private health sector. But a grant donation has enabled Lesotho to begin ushering in a small-scale treatment initiative.
Gauteng province ‘ Taking Strain
Migration is taking its toll on health services in Gauteng, South Africa's economic powerhouse.
Building towards treatmentLiving with AIDS #171
The Limpopo province is one of five provinces that the government says will soon be ready to join the Western Cape and Gauteng in providing AIDS treatment in the public health sector. In this feature Health-e visits Tintswalo Hospital, Limpopo's second largest hospital in rural Acornhoek, and met Dr Paul Pronyk, an American who has been working at the hospital for the last six years as part of Wits University's Rural AIDS and Development Action Research project.