Lack of political will threatens AIDS funding Living with AIDS # 412
Universal access to antiretrovirals in poor countries is under threat as donors reduce funding for AIDS programmes, warns Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).
Health Systems
Read More » Lack of political will threatens AIDS funding Living with AIDS # 412
NHI is a boost to health
OPINION:The ANC proposed national health insurance (NHI) as seen through the ideological lense by Jasson Urbach of the Free Market Foundation in the Sowetan of 21 October 2009, which he labels a 'threat to health,' is nothing but a scare tactic designed to persuade the public and policy makers to abandon the idea of implementing it. Once the government releases the policy proposal for public and stakeholder consultation, it will become clear that the arguments used in such negative campaigns are not well founded.
Motsoaledi announces his NHI team
Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has announced his 25-person team which will advise him on the National Health Insurance plan crafted by the ANC. The team includes among others academics, pharmacists, researchers and the private healthcare industry. Chair of the ANC's NHI task team Dr Olive Shisana will also chair Motsoaledi's committee.
Anthony Mbewu is made director of GFHR: Is this an appropriate appointment?
Anthony Mbewu, the current President of the Medical Research Council of South Africa (MRC), has been appointed the Executive Director of the Swiss-based Global Forum for Health Research (GFHR). Is this an appropriate appointment? By Nathan Geffen.
Saving Africa’s children Living with AIDS # 410
Africa has the largest number of children living with HIV. A campaign launched recently seeks to mobilize political will and financial resources to overcome the bottle-necks that hinder services for children who have HIV and to prevent HIV infection in children.
Building a health system that withstands leadership change
Former colleagues describe Dr Molefi Sefularo as a change agent and the tonic South Africa's beleaguered health system needs. The former North West health MEC was last year appointed as deputy health minister and was recently handed a list of critical responsibilities not traditionally reserved for deputies. Anso Thom of Health-e News Service spoke to him in his Cape Town office.
Dep. Minister pushes for ring-fencing of budget
The health ministry is pushing for the national health budget to be ring-fenced and is looking at the establishment of South African National AIDS Council (SANAC)-type implementation bodies that function separately from the department and have oversight over all the role-players.
Desperate need for research on tik and pregnancy
CAPE TOWN - A study conducted among pregnant women attending an antenatal clinic at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town has found that 10% of the prospective mothers were abusing the drug Methamphetamine or tik as it is know in the Western Cape.
Silent deaths
CAPE TOWN - More than one-million babies are stillborn during labour every year ' 98% in low- and middle-income countries - yet global policy discussions around these largely silent deaths are mostly nonexistent. On top of this another 904 000 babies die soon after birth due to birth complications, closely linked to almost half of the world's 536 000 maternal deaths.
Antenatal HIV prevalence at 29.3% – Report
The Minister of Health, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi spoke at the recent launch of the 2008 National Antenatal Sentinel HIV and Syphilis Prevalence Survey.
Putting faith in mid-level workers paying off
CAPE TOWN 'African countries, much poorer and less resourced than South Africa, are using trained mid-level health workers to perform tasks traditionally reserved for doctors, including surgery, and in the process saving the lives.
Lack of funds threatens ARV programmes
Six provinces may run out of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs as a result of a financial shortfall experienced by the Department of Health totalling one billion rand.
Mseleku axed
Health department Director General Thami Mseleku, a destructive leftover from former health minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang's reign, will leave the end of the month, with the Western Cape's Director-General for Health Professor Craig Househam set to step in.
Towards a lively, accountable AIDS council Living with AIDS # 405
Dr Nono Simelela, newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer of the South African National AIDS Council, promises to improve the way in which SANAC will function in the future.
Strengthening PMTCT
More infants could be born free from HIV in South Africa. This follows the recent introduction of the National Plan for Acceleration of the Prevention of Mother to Child HIV Transmission programme, or PMTCT A-Plan.
