This week the largest ever international medical research project into the link between the formation of deep vein thrombosis and flying will be launched by Wits University and the National Health Laboratory Service. A thousand passengers flying between London and Johannesburg will take part in the study.
South Africa and the US were working together to strengthen their efforts in the fight against HIV/Aids, US Health Secretary Tommy Thompson said yesterday (Thursday) on his first official visit to Africa.
Cabinet is due to release proposals this month that could alter the entire foundation of South Africa's healthcare system by changing the way health is financed. Proposals for a social health insurance scheme will be open to comment and debate before the final recommendations are made.
The profile of hospital superintendents is changing - although white male doctors still predominate, a new picture is emerging in which more and more women are heading up hospitals. The 2001 SA Health Review notes that it is nurses and others in the health profession who increasingly are taking the helm.
"A sin of grand proportions" is how Anglican Archbiship Njongonkulu Ndungane has described the slow response of church leaders to the needs of people with HIV/AIDS. Opening a workshop of faith-based communities from nine southern African countries, Njongonkulu said churches needed to acknowledge the sin of omission in their response to the pandemic.
Despite a vague statement by the health minister after meeting with the nine provincial MECs, the health ministry seems clear that it is committed to accelerating the roll-out of the mother to child HIV prevention programme in all provinces where the capability exists.
The results of the antiretroviral treatment programme run by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Khayelitsha clinics can be compared with results that are achievable anywhere in the developed world. This was the claim by Dr Eric Goemaere of MSF about the pilot programme which began in Khayelitsha in May 2001.
Debt cancellation, poverty relief and health improvement are key elements that should form part of the World Summit on Sustainable Development to be held in Johannesburg in August. This was the call by health ministers from the Southern African Development Community who ended a two-day meeting on Tuesday with representatives from China, India, Indonesia and the USA.
A meeting between SADC health ministers and E9 countries to plan for the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in August has stressed that investing in health is a key driving force in economic development. A WHO study shows that through spending $66 billion on a global programme of key health interventions, the gain in terms of productivity, growth and social contribution would be about $360 billion - a six fold return.
The widespread presence of STIs in South Africa is one of the driving forces behind the spread of the Aids epidemic. If sexually transmitted infections are treated correctly, the rate of new HIV infections can be halved. Contrary to general expectation, the best place to go for effective treatment of an STI is a public sector clinic. The private sector has a poor track record when it comes to successfully treating STIs. At a recent workshop in Johannesburg, doctors and researchers met to find ways to improve the private sector's peformance when it comes to treating STIs.
The use of antiretroviral drugs had led to a dramatic and incredible decline in deaths and hospitalisation of Aids patients in the US. At a recent conference in Johannesburg, South Africa was urged to find ways of making the treatment widely available and to learn from other countries about the best ways to implement it.
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