While the almost 70% price reduction in important tuberculosis prevention drug Rifapentine for 100 countries with significant TB epidemics is a breakthrough, the high cost of newer drugs remains a barrier.
The World Health Assembly reports that universal health coverage is gaining momentum, but many governments are intent on keeping their medicine prices secret.
At a recent international TB conference, some doctors suggested countries with weak health systems should not be allowed to use new TB drugs, although the old ones are ineffectual and cause deafness. Thankfully, South Africa is leading the world in treating drug-resistant TB.
Sexual violence plays a significant role in HIV infection and depression, according to ground-breaking research with women living in Rustenburg.
South Africa’s rape rate is so high that it is akin to a country at war. But many women are suffering in silence, without counselling or treatment that can protect them from HIV.
COMMENT: Amid a growing list of government blunders, the one good story to tell is the progress that the Zuma administration has made against AIDS – but the war has not yet been won.
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