South African Press Association - December 14, 2007
Aderogba Obisesan
The battle to lead the African National Congress (ANC) pits an Aids dissident against a rival who took a shower as a form of safe sex, in a country that has the world s highest rate of HIV infections. The ANC is electing its new leaders at a conference in Polokwane, Limpopo, that starts on Sunday. The front-runners to
South African Press Association - December 9, 2007
Public health workers were mistreating their patients, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told a conference of the National Association of People Living with HIV and Aids (Napwa) in Soweto yesterday. They were treating them with a blatant lack of ubuntu, she said, urging victims to report them. Mlambo-Ngcuka did n
South African Press Association - December 3, 2007
Laughing and waving at the 15000 strong crowd, former president Nelson Mandela was again the star attraction at the Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg this weekend. Mandela appeared at the fifth international 46664 Aids concert, held on Saturday as part of World Aids Day. Sporting a sweatshirt with the number 46664 emb
South African Press Association - December 1, 2007
President Thabo Mbeki has stressed that the government s call on South Africans to be faithful and condomise is not being heeded, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Saturday. Speaking on World Aids Day, Mbeki said these were important aspects of the government s Khomanani campaign, considering that
South African Press Association - December 1, 2007
There has been great progress in the response to the challenge of HIV/Aids and few setbacks, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Saturday. Speaking at World Aids Day commemorations in Mokopane, Limpopo, Tshabalala-Msimang pointed out that the setbacks have been in the area of research. Two clinical trials
South African Press Association - November 30, 2007
The Aids crisis, already one of enormous proportions, is forecast to get even bigger, says Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille. Though a slight decline was experienced this year, analysts still predict South Africa s HIV infection rate to increase from its current 10% to 18% by 2025, she warned in her weekly on
South African Press Association - November 30, 2007
Statistics that indicated HIV/Aids numbers were lower than previously thought was cold comfort, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said today. Speaking in Pretoria a day before Aids Day, Tutu said while the country might say things have improved, it was unacceptable that 600 people died of Aids in SA everyday. He said the country
South African Press Association - November 27, 2007
The South African National Aids Council (Sanac) has adopted a strategic plan to respond to HIV/Aids challenges in the country, it said on Tuesday. This was announced at a Sanac conference at Emperors Palace near Johannesburg. Spokesperson Mark Heywood said the plan might not be perfect, but it was the best available as
South African Press Association - November 26, 2007
South Africa is on track to meet a United Nations target for reducing mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) by 2010, the United Nations Children s Fund (Unicef) said yesterday. SA is one of 17 low- and middle- income countries that are set to achieve the ... target of reducing mother-to-child infections by 50perce
South African Press Association - November 21, 2007
South Africa was experiencing a possible decline of new HIV infections, Health Director General Thami Mseleku said on Wednesday. Speaking on the same day as the release of a United Nations report stating that South Africa had the highest prevalence of HIV in the world, Mseleku said there were signs that there was a t
South African Press Association - November 20, 2007
South Africa s transport sector faces a huge challenge in reducing HIV infections, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said on Tuesday. Opening a two-day national policy dialogue on HIV and Aids in the transport sector, Radebe said the negative developments of HIV and Aids in the sector could not be allowed to gain momentum
South African Press Association - November 14, 2007
All HIV vaccine trials in SA have been put on hold following the failure of the Phambili HIV vaccine trial. Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Wednesday invited researchers who worked on the Phambili study to her office in Pretoria to explain the reasons why the vaccine trial was stopped. She complained that t
South African Press Association - November 12, 2007
The battle against HIV and Aids requires personal responsibility and moral resolve, says Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. Speaking at the opening of a three day International Department of Defence HIV and Aids Conference in Pretoria, Mlambo-Ngcuka said Africa could not afford to loose the battle against the pan
South African Press Association - November 10, 2007
Cape Town, South Africa - Lives are being lost in many countries through lack of cooperation between tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/Aids health programmes, a senior United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAids) official said in Cape Town on Friday. Dr Alasdair Reid, the HIV/TB adviser to the international body, was sp
South African Press Association - November 7, 2007
Ben Maclennan
With around nine million new cases a year worldwide, tuberculosis has become a global health crisis requiring urgent action, according to Medicins Sans Frontieres campaigner Martine Usdin. Usdin, a biologist working for MSF s campaign for access to essential medicines, was speaking in Cape Town, South Af
South African Press Association - November 6, 2007
Very few prisons test newly admitted prisoners for contagious and communicable diseases such as tuberculosis or Aids, according to the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons 2006/7 annual report. This is despite the law clearly setting out the obligations of the prison authorities in this regard, says the document, tabled in
South African Press Association - November 6, 2007
Warren Foster
The campaign against Aids in South Africa has suffered several blows in recent years - from confusion about whether Aids is a virus or a syndrome to the infamous post-coital anti-Aids shower and by way of several job lots of dodgy condoms - which are key to the fight against the spread of the virus. Ordinary South
South African Press Association - November 6, 2007
South African medical authorities need to start thinking about tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/Aids as a single epidemic, rather than treating them separately, a TB expert said on Tuesday. Dr Greg Hussey, head of the University of Cape Town s Institute for Infectious Diseases, was speaking at a media briefing ahead of a majo
South African Press Association - October 29, 2007
Johnny Clegg, Arno Carstens, Loyiso, The Parlotones, Prime Circle and the Soweto Gospel Choir are just some of the local stars scheduled to appear at the 46664 concert on December 1. Former president Nelson Mandela was at the Ellis Park stadium today to greet the SA artists who have agreed to perform in his fifth 46664
South African Press Association - October 20, 2007
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said traditional medicines had huge potential to produce new and alternative treatments for serious health conditions. People are using traditional medicines and natural therapies in alleviating conditions associated with HIV-AIDS, diabetes, malaria and other serious health cond
South African Press Association - October 15, 2007
International superstars Peter Gabriel and Annie Lennox will again top the bill at the 46664 concert in Johannesburg in December, it was announced on Monday. They will be joined on stage by Ludacris, Corinne Bailey Rae, the Goo Goo Dolls, Razorlight and Jamelia. The rest of the line-up of international and South Africa
An HIV/Aids treatment programme is on track in Lusikisiki, contrary to media reports that it was bungled, the Eastern Cape health department said on Tuesday. Departmental spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said the department took over the programme initiated by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the NGO Médecins sans Frontiêres
The Health Department is intensifying its HIV-prevention programme, particularly for mother-to-child transmissions, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Tuesday. The minister was speaking at the first Global-World HIV/Aids Alliance conference held in Richards Bay. Tshabalala-Msimang said over the past three
Johannesburg will stage a 46664 HIV/Aids awareness concert on World Aids Day for the first time, former president Nelson Mandela announced on Monday. Speaking at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton, Mandela said the concert, which will take place on December 1 at Ellis Park stadium, will feature international and
South African Press Association - September 27, 2007
Allegations that South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board deputy chairperson Christine Qunta is involved in a company selling medicines purported to cure HIV/Aids were irresponsible and defamatory , her lawyer said on Thursday. Athol Gordon, from Bowman Gilfillan attorneys, was responding to a threat by Zach
South African Press Association - September 27, 2007
The Treatment Action Campaign has threatened to take court action if controversial lawyer Christine Qunta is reappointed to the SABC board. Briefing media in Cape Town yesterday, TAC leader Zachie Achmat said Qunta s involvement in a firm selling untested medicines purported to cure HIV/Aids disqualified her from occup
South African Press Association - September 17, 2007
As opposition parties called for urgent action to address the crisis of HIV infection in babies attending state hospitals, the Health Department took steps on Monday to get to the bottom of the matter. The department was concerned at media reports alleging there have been cases of HIV infection as a result of inadequat
South African Press Association - September 14, 2007
The former deputy to South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said the minister deliberately undercut her efforts to tackle chronic illness in the HIV/Aids-ravaged country. In a speech at the University of KwaZulu-Natal s Durban campus on Thursday night, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge said Msimang, dubbed Dr
South African Press Association - September 11, 2007
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang s statement concerning dual-therapy HIV treatment was a gross distortion of the truth , the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) said on Tuesday. The TAC also welcomed the Health Department s announcement at Monday s meeting of the South African National Aids Council that dual therap
South African Press Association - September 10, 2007
The South African National Aids Council is on track with its National Strategic Plan on HIV and Aids, which would see the halving of new infections by 2011, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said on Monday. She chaired the first meeting of the newly constituted council in Pretoria, which officially brings togethe
South African Press Association - September 6, 2007
The South African Cabinet was concerned about the level of fraud that led to the distribution of faulty condoms that might have exposed people to HIV. The Cabinet expressed disquiet about the corruption and fraud that led to the distribution of faulty condoms which may have exposed individuals to the risk of contractin
Parallel trials for Aids vaccines in South Africa look promising in their long road to conclusion, a press conference in Sandton heard on Friday. Indications are that vaccine trials tailored for global strains had an effect against the strain of the virus most prevalent in South Africa. Preliminary results support con
South Africa is facing the possibility of state Aids patients developing major resistance to currently prescribed antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, Health Director General Thami Mseleku said on Thursday. The challenge is going to be huge because of the cost -- it s 500% more ... to move to the second-level regimen of drugs
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) launched a fund on Monday to provide short-term financial assistance to axed deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge. In defence of good governance and to support Ms Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, a fund has been set up to assist her with short-term financial needs related to no
Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille has responded to President Thabo Mbeki s call for those with evidence of a Cabinet member neglecting their duties to send him the proof. In an open letter published on the DA s SA Today website today, she has offered the president a list of reasons why he should sack his controver
Johannesburg, South Africa - A fresh study into the link between nutrition and HIV/Aids does not provide any new information, the Health Department said on Wednesday. The findings of the study actually reaffirm the policy position of the department, the department said in a statement. The outcomes ... do not necessari
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Wednesday officially wrote to President Thabo Mbeki asking him to fire Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. In his letter to the President, DA spokesperson on health Mike Waters cites Tshabalala-Msimang s obsession with good nutrition as a substitute for proper HIV/Aids treatment as
The United States hopes to increase the money it spends to tackle HIV and Aids in South Africa , US Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt said on Monday. He met Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya at the Union Buildings in Pretoria as part of an official visit to South Africa, one of the stops on
The Presidency has released a letter sent to former deputy health minister Nosiweve Madlala-Routledge detailing the reasons for her dismissal. Former deputy health minister Nosiweve Madlala-Routledge was fired for her inability to work as part of the collective and for undertaking a trip to Madrid against President Tha
The Presidency remains silent on the sacking of deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge who said she was axed for an unannounced hospital visit and an unauthorised trip abroad. Madlala-Routledge s live-on-radio press briefing led to numerous responses from various groups, including her own former department.
Former deputy health minister Nozizwe will speak out on Friday about being dismissed by president Thabo Mbeki earlier this week. She will be interviewed live on radio from Cape Town at 10am. On Thursday, political parties, trade unions and social movements reacted with outrage at Madlala-Routledge s dismissal. Mean
New generation antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) could cost 500 percent more than those now being dispensed by the health department, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said today. Speaking at the opening of the Women in Partnership Against Aids, Tshabalala-Msimang said: The reduction of prices of medicines is a critic
More than 200 HIV/Aids lay counsellors marched on the Gauteng health department offices in Johannesburg on Friday complaining that they had not been paid since April. The community-based counsellors also said they were unhappy with the amount of the monthly R1 000 stipend they were supposed to get from the department.
The latest HIV-infection figures of 29% among pregnant women suggest a first-time decline may be starting for the pandemic, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Thursday. The overall picture suggests that HIV-prevalence in South Africa may be at a point where we should begin to witness a downward trend, Ts
Each time a Durban woman objected to being kissed while she was being raped, her attacker pressed a Smith & Wesson revolver to her head, the Scottburgh High Court heard on Tuesday. His HIV-positive accomplice then asked her: Was it fun? Are we having a good time? That was after the second time she had been raped by
The Health Department is preparing to introduce dual therapy to improve prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The National Strategic Plan for HIV and Aids and Sexually Transmitted Infections -- adopted by Cabinet earlier this year -- allows for introducing dual therapy for reducing mother-to-child transmis
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) says it cannot take action against German vitamin salesman Matthias Rath. This follows a complaint by the Democratic Alliance (DA) complaint on Thursday that Rath had reopened offices in Cape Town. DA health spokesperson Mike Waters said Rath had reopened offices i
South Africa remains one of only two countries in the world to offer life policies for people with HIV/Aids, the Life Offices Association (LOA) said on Wednesday. Three of South Africa s biggest life-insurance companies were the first to introduce life policies for people with HIV/Aids in 2001, with The
The prevalence of HIV/Aids appears to be dropping, prompting the Department of Health to express optimism on Wednesday about its prevention programmes. Preliminary results from a 2006 antenatal survey show a statistically significant decrease in the prevalence of HIV among pregnant women using public hospitals -- from
Irreparable harm had been caused by dismissing health workers in Khayelitsha clinics during the public service strike, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) argued in the Cape High Court today. Last week the TAC and seven Khayelitsha residents lodged an urgent application to reverse the dismissal of 41 striking Western C
Group of Eight (G8) leaders are making hot air promises when it comes to giving substantial aid to Africa, said Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane in Cape Town on Monday. Ndungane was speaking at a media briefing of the African Monitor, an advocacy organisation of which he is the founder and president. Ndungane said the G
The budget for the Gauteng health department has increased by 15.8 percent to improve health services for the province s growing population, MEC Brian Hlongwa said today. The growth in the budget is a reflection of the increasing demand for quality health services, he said. Hlongwa announced the 2007/2008 budget of R12
Media reports of Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya having snubbed the South African National Aids Conference in Durban are incorrect, the ministry said on Friday. The ministry has never confirmed the participation of Dr Skweyiya at this conference, and the organisers were informed that he would not be available
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang was not snubbed by the Aids conference in Durban, the conference organisers insisted on Wednesday. Dira Sengwe, the official organisers of the third South African Aids Conference, said it strongly refutes allegations that Tshabalala-Msimang was slighted because she was on the pr
A South African doctor s recent call for compulsory HIV testing triggered a lively debate on Wednesday at the South African Aids Conference in Durban. It s dangerous to go this route, said Heidi van Rooyen of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). Should we go back and undo 20 years of work with the possibility th
Severe shortages of health staff in four Southern African countries is the main barrier to expanding HIV/Aids treatment, according to a Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) report released on Thursday. The report, Help Wanted, focusing on Malawi , Lesotho , South Africa and
Trade union federation Cosatu has congratulated the Treatment Action Campaign s Mark Heywood on his appointment to the SA National Aids Council (Sanac). We know that he will use his new position to strengthen the unity within Sanac in the fight to reverse the spread of the virus, said Congress of SA Trade Unions spokes
Male circumcision should not be seen as a silver bullet in fighting HIV infection, University of Cape Town researchers said in a paper published in the latest issue of the South African Medical Journal. The evidence for the preventive benefit of male circumcision is rather modest , and does not warrant heroic policies
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is to be challenged in the Pretoria High Court on whether its HIV-testing policies are constitutional, the Aids Law Project (ALP) said on Monday. The ALP, acting for the South African Security Forces Union (Sasfu), has filed court papers. A joint press conference hosted
More than 300,000 people living with HIV/Aids need anti-retroviral treatment in Mozambique , but only a fraction of them are actually receiving the drugs, national media reported on Thursday. Cesar Mufanequico, co-ordinator for the Anti-Retroviral Treatment Access Movement, told Radio Mozambique that throughout the cou
HIV/Aids budgets should not be rolled over, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka warned on Monday at the launch of the newly constituted South African National Aids Council (Sanac) in Kempton Park. I urge provinces to run with implementation of programmes, she said, also emphasising the need to tackle opportunistic
Africa has a shortage of about one million health workers, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official said in Johannesburg on Thursday. The deficit worldwide is about four million, said the executive director of the Global Health Workforce Alliance, Dr Francis Omaswa. Africa is a real catastrophe, he told reporters on
Africa needs to rely less on donors and pump more money into its public health systems, Botswana s Health Minister said in Johannesburg on Tuesday. We are trying to get Africa not to rely heavily on donors. We must devote at least 15% of our budget to health. A few of us have done that, said Professor Sheila Tlou. Sh
A biography of politician Patricia de Lille had invaded the right to privacy of three women whose names and HIV-positive status were disclosed in it, the Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday. In a full sitting of judges, the three women were each awarded R35 000 in damages, from De Lille, author Charlene Smith and p
A South African drug manufacturer has signed an agreement with an international company allowing it to distribute an antiretroviral (ARV) cheaply in sub-Saharan Africa, the companies said on Wednesday. The royalty-free, non-exclusive agreement between Aspen of South Africa and Tibotec Pharmaceuticals, based in
From April 1 insurance companies will pay out life insurance and funeral claims to relatives of people who die of Aids-related illness, the Life Offices Association (LOA) said in Johannesburg on Tuesday. Insurance companies belonging to LOA will no longer apply the HIV/Aids exclusion clause to life and disability polic
New approaches and tools in dealing with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) must be sought, the South African branch of international medical humanitarian organisation Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Friday. MDR and now [extensively-drug resistant] TB are the tip of an iceberg of failing strategies to con
Black South Africans are six times more likely to get infected with the HI virus than other race groups, the Health Department told an Aids conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday. In 2005, blacks were found to be the most affected -- of the order six to seven times higher than non-Africans, the department s head of HI
Underdevelopment, poverty and the low status of women remained the main drivers of HIV/Aids in South Africa , the Health Department said on Wednesday. An estimated 55% of those living with HIV in South Africa were women, according to the executive summary of the draft National Strategic Plan on HIV/Aids and Sexually Tr
Johannesburg, South Africa - The Health Department plans to reduce the rate of new HIV/Aids infections by 50% by the year 2011, acting health minister Jeff Radebe said on Friday. To achieve this, we need to intensify the implementation of prevention interventions aimed at changing behaviour and reduce sexual transmissi
Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) needs a proactive networked response particularly when it appears together with HIV infection, an international discussion on MDR-TB heard in Johannesburg on Monday. It is one disease where there are more questions than answers, said Dr Norbert Ndjeka from Limpopo -- part of a
South African Press Association - February 26, 2007
The National Association of People living With HIV and Aids (Napwa) is to hold prayer meetings in all provinces on Wednesday morning in support of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. The main meeting will be in Germiston, Napwa national director Nkululeko Nxesi said on Monday. Her condition is improving speedily
South African Press Association - February 26, 2007
The Mozambican government has declared tuberculosis (TB) as a national emergency, Vista News reported on Monday. The Health Minister, Ivo Garrido, in an interview with the national radio service, Radio Mozambique , said public hospitals had limited capacities to treat the more than 35 000 cases that were recorded in th
South African Press Association - February 25, 2007
British nutrition guru Patrick Holford, currently touring South Africa , says he has no links to the Dr Rath Health Foundation and does not advise people to stop taking antiretrovirals (ARVs). He has also denied news reports that, he said, implied he had been saying vitamin C was more effective in treating Aids than th
South African Press Association - February 25, 2007
Nomfundo Mcetywa
President Thabo Mbeki is busy applying his mind to the appointment of an acting health minister, said his spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga on Saturday. This follows the Health Department s request to have an acting minister appointed while the incumbent Health Minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, is in hospital. Althoug
South African Press Association - February 24, 2007
The scientist backing nutritionist Patrick Holford s claims on vitamin C and Aids was one of the key speakers at a conference organised by the controversial Dr Matthias Rath in Johannesburg just more than a year ago. Holford, who is currently giving a series of workshops in South Africa , claims that the vitamin is
South African Press Association - February 23, 2007
A South African pharmaceutical company is set to start manufacturing antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for treating people living with Aids with immediate effect. Adcock Ingram is now able to tender for government s ARV requirements and meet the needs of the private healthcare market, said the company s managing director, Jon
South African Press Association - February 21, 2007
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel s 2007 budget was largely neutral from a property perspective, Jawitz Properties commented on Wednesday. There were no changes to transfer-duty percentages or the thresholds below which transfer duty applies, said chief executive Herschel Jawitz in a statement. This was largely expected g
South African Press Association - February 21, 2007
Spending on dedicated HIV/Aids programmes by national and provincial government departments will exceed R5-billion within the next two years, according to Wednesday s budget. The Treasury says in its budget review that an additional R1,65-billion has been committed to provinces over the next three years for their Aids-
South African Press Association - February 17, 2007
Sibongakonke Shoba
Seven striking miners were arrested and some were injured during a violent protest at the Impala Platinum mine in Rustenburg on Friday, police said. The miners blocked the roads leaving the NR6 and NR8 hostels and threw stones at vehicles, Captain Elsabe Augoustides said. They then marched to the mine s hospital, deman
South African Press Association - February 14, 2007
Giordano Stolley
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) is a province on the move despite a high crime rate and high incidence of HIV/Aids, Premier S bu Ndebele said in his State of the Province address in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday. Speaking at the Royal Show Grounds, Ndebele labelled 2007 as the year that KwaZulu-Natal is building the economy throug
South African Press Association - February 13, 2007
A successful HIV vaccine is at least a decade away, the International Aids Vaccine Initiative for Southern Africa (IAVI) said on Tuesday. A vaccine is at least a decade away ... in the event of the Merck vaccine hitting the bar, it will happen earlier, said Dr Wayne Koff, senior vice-president of the IAVI. Koff spoke o
South African Press Association - February 11, 2007
Curing XDR-TB, a deadly strain of the infectious disease that emerged in the Tugela Ferry region of KwaZulu-Natal in 2005, is becoming more difficult and more people are dying, the report said. Some of the patients have experienced side-effects such as vomiting, diarrhoea, weakness and capriomason. Some patients have h
South African Press Association - February 7, 2007
It was a myth that participants in microbicide trials are encouraged to have unprotected sex, the Treatment Action Campaign said on Wednesday. This myth has been perpetuated by at least two senior South African politicians and we have encountered journalists who have mistakenly believed it, the organisation said in an
South African Press Association - February 7, 2007
About 20 of the 604 women who participated in microbicide clinical trials have tested HIV-positive, the South African Medical Research Council (MRC) said on Wednesday. We are not certain yet whether these women became HIV-positive as a result of the use of the microbicide, and this is being investigated, said MRC presi
South African Press Association - February 7, 2007
Richard Davies
The productivity of South Africa s mining sector has not been affected by the Aids pandemic to the extent forecast in some of the doom-and-gloom scenarios of a decade ago, the Chamber of Mines said on Wednesday. Briefing Parliament s select committee on economic and foreign affairs, the chamber s chief executive, Mzoli
South African Press Association - February 6, 2007
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has requested an investigation by the research ethics council following concerns about the health of participants in microbicide clinical trials. In a statement released on Tuesday, Tshabalala-Msimang said she had met with researchers following disturbing news about preliminary
South African Press Association - February 2, 2007
A C-Max prison inmate who is critically ill with HIV/Aids, but who refuses to use antiretroviral drugs because he believes the health minister s advice to be true and that they have had dangerous side-effects , wants to die at home. He brought an urgent Pretoria High Court application in which he asked that the departm
South African Press Association - February 1, 2007
A new study has revealed that more than 80 000 people were infected with HIV in the Eastern Cape last year and almost 40 000 died as a result of the disease. The Dispatch Online said the results of the study by the Eastern Cape Aids Council were released this week. The council s 73-page report says that of the estimate
South African Press Association - February 1, 2007
Zimbabweans should continue to be resilient in the face of harsh economic realities and earn an honest living to avoid contracting HIV and Aids, Zimbabwe s Herald Online reported on Thursday. Speaking at Bondamakara Secondary School in Mutoko during a belated ceremony to mark World Aids Day, Mutoko North member of the
South African Press Association - January 30, 2007
Ben Maclennan
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) could be called on to help expand South Africa s antiretroviral-treatment programme, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka suggested on Tuesday. There is a role for the force in helping roll out treatment because it is such a labour-intensive activity, she told a defen
South African Press Association - January 29, 2007
The African Union (AU) should allocate 15% or more of its budget to healthcare, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said on Sunday. In a letter written to the AU ahead of its summit to be held this week, Tutu said that over 40-million Africans had died from diseases over the past five years. He said this was caused by the failure
South African Press Association - January 29, 2007
Lack of morals in society is one of the prevalent factors for the high number of HIV/Aids infections, says Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. Mlambo-Ngcuka was speaking to over 2,000 Roman Catholic youths who had gathered in Pretoria to witness a cross donated to the world’s youth by the late Pope John Paul II.
South African Press Association - January 28, 2007
President Thabo Mbeki was on Sunday expected to attend an African Peer Review Forum during which South Africa s country report will be presented, the Foreign Affairs Department said. The forum, in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, will also look at Ghana , Rwanda and Ken
South African Press Association - January 18, 2007
Louise Flanagan
South Africa has the most Aids orphans in the world, according to a United Nations Children s Fund (Unicef) report released this week. The report focused on data from 2005. It found that a total of 15,2-million children around the world had lost at least one parent to HIV/Aids. Most of these children were in sub-Saha
South African Press Association - January 16, 2007
We have to intensify our efforts to make health more affordable and accessible to all Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has resumed her official responsibilities, pledging to step up efforts to make health more affordable and accessible. In a statement today, Tshabalala-Msimang said she had restarted her duties
South African Press Association - January 16, 2007
President Thabo Mbeki has a personal prerogative on whether to take a public HIV test, says Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. An individual s state of health - including that of the president - was highly sensitive and a private matter, she told a select group of journalists in Pretoria, according to SABC radio
South African Press Association - January 11, 2007
JOHANNESBURG -- A charge of genocide has been laid against Treatment Action Campaign head Zackie Achmat at the International Criminal Court, a daily newspaper reported on Thursday. In the 59-page criminal complaint in the court in The Hague, Netherlands , Achmat is accused of promoting the provision and use of antiretr
Pupils from the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls will be sent for HIV/Aids testing with their parents consent, said Oprah Winfrey at the opening of the school at Henley-on-Klip, Meyerton, on Tuesday. The school for girls from disadvantaged backgrounds was officially opened by Winfrey at a star-studded event.
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