What can be done in societies with a legacy of violence and division to help heal children to enable them to develop to their full potential and break the cycle of violence and poverty? Sue Valentine attended a meeting of the Northern Ireland-South African colloquium for a day of realistic and inspiring discussion of what interventions can make a difference.
Large numbers of children as young as seven years old can recognise product logos and names - even for products they don'€™t use such as cigarettes, snuff and beer.This, says Dr Krisela Steyn of the Medical Research Council, is all the more reason why the new tobacco control legislation should impose strict controls on the advertising of tobacco products and their logos.
Nkosi Johnson is 11 years old and is living with AIDS. His mother died from AIDS when he was very young and he has grown up in Johannesburg with his adopted mother, Gail Johnson. Among the giant sets and razzmatazz of the opening ceremony of the 13th International AIDS conference in Durban in July, Nkosi cut a small figure as he stepped onto the stage to deliver his poignant message to the world.
If the rich consume more health resources than the poor, any efforts to redress the gap between the haves and have-nots must include a commitment to equity and not just equality. Sue Valentine attended a recent international workshop in the North West Province aimed at developing efective equity gauges to measure the gaps in health spending and resource allocation.
The Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act, which comes into effect on October 1st, imposes tight controls on smoking in restaurants, pubs, shebeens, hotels and workplaces, as well as limiting tobacco advertising and the sale of tobacco products.
Now that the delegates have left town, the exhibition halls emptied and the media centre silent, what impact has the 13th International AIDS conference had on efforts to prevent and treat the disease in our country? Sue Valentine reports
The 11th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health currently underway in Chicago has honoured the South African health ministry for its leadership in tobacco control.
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) is heading for a showdown with the government if it does not approve the use of Nevirapine to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV. The question of giving Nevirapine to pregnant women is on the agenda for the next MINMEC meeting on August 12 when the Minister of Health, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang is scheduled to meet with the provincial MECs for health.
DURBAN- "The challenge is to move from rhetoric to action," said Nelson Mandela at the closing ceremony of the AIDS 2000 conference, as he underlined the importance of safer sex, the use of condoms and interventions to stop mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS.
DURBAN- "The challenge is to move from rhetoric to action," said Nelson Mandela at the closing ceremony of the AIDS 2000 conference, as he underlined the importance of safer sex, the use of condoms and interventions to stop mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS.
DURBAN - More than 5 000 scientists re-affirmed their assertion that HIV causes AIDS and endorsed the Durban Declaration at the AIDS 2000 conference yesterday. (Thursday).
DURBAN - The South African government should be in a position to make a decision about the provision of Nevirapine to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS by this afternoon. (Friday)
The South African Department of Health is "very pleased" with the results announced by researchers working on the Nevirapine Trials which showed a significant reduction in mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
Addressing delegates at the AIDS 2000 conference on the role of gender and sexuality in the transmission of HIV/AIDS , Dr Geeta Rao Gupta said that "Empowering women does not disempower men".
DURBAN - The Medical Research Council of South Africa has received more than R100 million over five years to establish two new research units for the study of HIV/AIDS prevention strategies and vaccines.
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