The Medical Research Council recently released a policy brief entitled, "Orphans of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic - the time to act is now". In it, the MRC predicts that if nothing is done, deaths due to AIDS will peak in 2010, while the wave of children orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS will continue to increase, peaking in 2015 at around 1,85 million orphans. In this audio report, Sue Valentine hears from researchers in the field about what can be done.
The national ante-natal HIV prevalence survey for 2001 has glimmers of hope, but the regardless of small movements in percentage points, the big picture is that HIV/AIDS is going to have a lasting and significant impact on our society. In this audio report, statistician and public health researcher David Bourne gives his views on what we can conclude from this year's survey.
Read More » Survey’s signs of the times
Living with AIDS – programme 80t's nearly a decade since the 12-year long civil war in Mozambique ended. Athough the country is re-building, the challenges are immense. Not least is an official HIV prevalence rate of 13% which in the large cities like Maputo and Beira is thought to be closer to 30%. One of the biggest battles is how to find the resources - human and financial - to respond to the many needs facing the country. When it comes to HIV/AIDS specifically, entrenched cultural attitudes further complicate the equation. In this audio report, the executive secretary of the National AIDS Council Janet Mondlane outlines what they're up against.
Read More » Mozambique’s uphill battle
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The Children's Team from the South Coast Hospice in Port Shepstone have some 200 children on their books - children who have either been orphaned because of AIDS or who need support because their parents are HIV positive. In this audio report, we visit the home of a family of three on the lower south coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal who live in a tiny, one-roomed shack. When the caregivers give the 13-year old boy a memory box to decorate, he paints his dream - a colourful, five-roomed house for his mother, his sister and him.
Read More » Painting hope and memories Living with AIDS programme 78Care givers who form the backbone of home-based care programmes for people sick with HIV/AIDS need support and encouragement as well. In this audio report, experiences from a Soweto AIDS care and counselling group are shared with care givers working in Nyanga, Cape Town. Ideas are exchanged on the responsibilities that people attending the support groups can assume so that the staff don't burn out.
Read More » Care givers need support too
Living with AIDS Programme 77Values like freedom, equality and democracy are hollow concepts for women who still are subject to the control of others when it comes to their reproductive rights. The parliamentary Health Portfolio committee held hearings recently to take stock of the implementation of a key piece of legislation passed six years ago, the 1996 Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act. In this audio report by Sue Valentine, health professionals, social workers and researchers speak about the impact the legislation has made in the past five years.
Read More » Realising women’s rights over their bodies
In the previous "Living with AIDS" feature, staff at the De Beers-Botswana diamond mining corporation, Debswana, spoke about the antiretroviral treatment programme offered by the company. In this audio report, some of the peer educators involved in educating their colleagues about HIV/AIDS and possible treatment options speak about the challenges they face.
Read More » Peer support helps miners with AIDSLiving with AIDS programme 76
How should photographers depict the HIV/AIDS pandemic? In this audio report, award-winning photographer Gideon Mendel talks about his recently launched book, "A Broken Landscape - HIV/AIDS in Africa" and how his approach to taking pictures of people living with HIV/AIDS has changed over time. The book represents almost nine years work and includes photographs taken in Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa.
Read More » Ways of seeing – how to depict AIDS in AfricaBotswana has one of the highest prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in the world - 38,5% of the country's 2 million people are HIV positive. In the face of these potentially devastating statistics, government and business have introduced a comprehensive response to the impact of the disease. One notable example is the prevention and treatment programme offered by the Debswana diamond mining corporation. Health-e visits one of their mines.
Read More » Botswana leads way in ARV therapy for minersLiving with AIDS – programme 75Fear and stigma continue to undermine efforts to address openly the impact of HIV/AIDS on our society. A short drive from Port Shepstone in KwaZulu-Natal, Mrs Mtimkulu, a grandmother, is single-handedly raising her grand-daughter Siyanda following the death of Siyanda's mother from an AIDS-related disease. In this audio report, Mrs Mtimkulu and Penny Gwacela, a home-based workers with the South Coast Hospice, explain the additional problem of stigma that the family face.
Read More » Granny bears brunt of stigma
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A laboratory in the basement of the medical school at the University of Cape Town serves around 90% of clinics and hospitals in the Western Cape. Although based at the University of Cape Town, the laboratory falls under the authority of the National Health Laboratory Services. In this audio report, Dr Dianna Hardie is a senior specialist in the Virology Department and explains how the Elisa test is carried out.
Read More » Testing for HIVLiving with AIDS Programme 73Documents circulating in government circles have once again disputed the link between HIV and AIDS and questioned scientific knowledge and practice in relation to the HI virus. In this audio package, acclaimed South African scientist, Dr Carolyn Williamson, who last year received the World Technology Award for Health & Medicine in recognition of her efforts to find an AIDS vaccine, speaks about the scientific evidence.
Read More » Back to basics: HIV causes AIDS
Living with AIDS – Programme 72How safe is the antiretroviral drug Nevirapine? Last week, the withdrawal of an application by the manufacturers of Nevirapine to register it with the United States Food And Drug Administration was allowed to generate considerable concern and confusion in South African medical and political circles about the safety and efficacy of the medication. On Tuesday, a trans-Atlantic link with leading scientists in the US and South Africa categorically laid these concerns to rest and clarified the nature of the application to register the drug.
Read More » US scientists affirm Nevirapine
Although the South African Constitution stipulates that all municipalities are ultimately expected to take responsibility for district health services, there is still widespread uncertainty as to the extent or limits of such services - and especially how they should best be financed.
Read More » Financing local level health servicesWhat memories would a mother wish to leave her children should she know she won't live to see them grow up? The work of care-givers in the home-based care programme at the South Coast Hospice in Port Shepstone includes finding ways to help parents leave behind messages for their children and then to support those children in their bereavement. In this audio report, the deputy director of the South Coast hospice Mabuyi Mnguni explains some of the work of their children's team.
Read More » Making memories last
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