Every day, programs supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria save at least 3 600 lives, prevent thousands of new infections and alleviate untold suffering. Global Fund present its 2010 Results Report, which shows how its investments have helped accelerate progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). All the documents can be found here.
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In the last “Living with AIDS” feature we heard how young men in Orange Farm, situated in the south of Johannesburg, are taking to medical circumcision in their hundreds. This week, we hear the reasons fuelling their enthusiasm.
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An article in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that starting patients on antiretroviral (ARV) therapy while they are taking TB treatment could dramatically improve their chances of survival and strengthen the integration of TB and HIV services. Full report attached.
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HIV stakeholders are calling on the Medicines Control Council (MCC) to speed up the registration of critical anti-HIV medication or face legal action. The Southern African HIV Clinicians Society has sent an appeal to the health minister to intervene and address the MCC registration process which they describe as the single biggest obstacle to getting affordable access to medicines.
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OPINION: The response to the announced increase in spending on health (from R84bn to R102bn – approximately a 25% increase) by Pravin Gordhan has received mixed responses, from praise to queries regarding whether the budget brings us closer to the proposed National Health Insurance. By Bernhard Gaede
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All patients entering a state health care facility will routinely be offered HIV counseling and testing while moves are afoot to enable community health workers to conduct these tests in an effort to not add to the burden of nurses and doctors.
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The Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) was recently awarded with the 2009 World No Tobacco Day Achievement Award presented to CANSA CEO, Sue Janse van Rensburg by Dr Stella Anyangwe, World Health Organization Representative in South Africa, at a recently hosted Symposium on Environmental Carcinogens in Pretoria in honour of World Cancer Day held on 4 February 2010.
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A ceremony marking the fifth anniversary of the entry into force of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was held today in Geneva headquarters of the World Health Organization.
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OPINION: : Even if Zuma’s World AIDS Day speech is matched with sufficient budget allocation, innovative models of providing HIV and TB care will be needed to achieve the targets of the National Strategic Plan. Lesley Odendal reflects on the lessons learnt in Khayelitsha’s HIV and TB project as a window into the future.
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Young men in Orange Farm, a sprawling township south of Johannesburg, are lining up for medical circumcision in large numbers ahead of government moves to add the intervention to its HIV prevention basket. Khopotso Bodibe witnessed a young man's procedure and spoke to him afterwards.
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A lancet study suggests that completely removing both the pelvic lymph nodes (lymphadenectomy) and para-aortic lymph nodes could increase chances of survival in patients who are at risk of cancer recurrence.
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A paper is described as an overview discussion document to establish "the progress and challenges in the efforts to improve health in South Africa since 1994" was recently presented to health leaders in South Africa. The report commissioned by the Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation also outlines possible answers and directions that government should take on future health policy, including national health insurance. The report can be read here.
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The Budget and Expenditure Monitoring Forum recently held its second meeting and focused on the upcoming antiretroviral tender and the need to ensure that it is structured and run in a manner that enables the state to procure an adequate supply of appropriate medicines at the lowest possible prices.
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The Khayelitsha programme has been held up as a best practice model across the world. A report attempts to summarise the various programmes and shows among others that antiretroviral therapy is feasible in poor settings, antenatal HIV prevalence can be stabilised and a decentralised, nurse-led service is possible. Read the full report here.
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The Treatment Action Campaign explains why it is important for Zuma to show leadership and take responsibility for himself, for those around him and for South Africa when it comes to preventing HIV.
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When maternal mortality almost doubled in fourteen years, health leaders in Namibia decided to make maternal health a priority – and set up a pilot in Khomas region.
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An innovative process aimed at unblocking health service delivery by building a strong, united team of health leaders is being piloted in Namibia by a partnership of management and development organisations.
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The AIDS Law Project and Treatment Action Campaign welcomed the 2010/1 budget and called it a step in the right direction.
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Screening air passengers for Tuberculosis (TB) is inefficient and unlikely to prevent the spread of infections, a Lancet study has shown.
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Samantha was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in 2005. After completing a rigorous course of chemotherapy she was informed that her only chance of survival was a very expensive new cancer drug.
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The National Council Against Smoking (NCAS) has urged finance minister Pravin Gordhan to review tobacco tax rates in South Africa.
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The legal fraternity is being called upon to play a meaningful role in the response to AIDS, especially to combat prejudice and discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS.
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KIGALI: (PlusNews) - Doreen Uwimana, in her early 20s, carries condoms in her bag even when she goes to classes at a college in an upmarket suburb of the Rwandan capital, Kigali.
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NAIROBI: (PlusNews) - The Kenya Prisons Service has won praise for its HIV programmes, including education, testing and the provision of anti-retroviral drugs to prisoners, but specialists say unless the issue of unprotected sex is addressed, HIV transmission will continue unchecked.
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Every year, over 12 million people receive a cancer diagnosis and 7.6 million die of the disease - accounting for nearly 1 in 5 of all deaths in developed countries and the leading cause of death worldwide¹. Yet, according to the International Union against Cancer (UICC) more than 40% of all cancers could be prevented by better lifestyle choices.
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