Nike, voted South Africa s Coolest Brand in 2008, is levering its popularity to promote HIV prevention among athletes, sports clubs, fans and consumers. Seven Mamelodi Sundowns players and the coach pitched up at the Nike store at Menlyn Shopping Mall in Pretoria recently to support its HIV awareness drive (subs: Nov 2
D DAY is approaching in the Treatment Action Campaign s legal action against the minister of correctional services and the judicial inspectorate of prisons. A petition by the HIV-Aids activist group will be heard in the Pretoria High Court on Thursday. The TAC is demanding access to a report on the death of a prisoner
THE Treatment Action Campaign still has a major role to play in fighting the Aids pandemic, the organisation said. Though the TAC is facing major financial difficulties and has to retrench close to 20 percent of its employees, its general secretary, Vuyiseka Dubula, said this would not dampen the organisation s efforts
-- Aids activists and government bury the hatchet - after 330 000 die needlessly AFTER years of anger, South Africa yesterday commemorated World Aids Day, confident for the first time that the government is responding effectively to the epidemic. Mark Heywood, deputy chair of the SA National Aids Council, said: The wa
-- ARV treatment throughout pregnancy makes this possible, writes Mpho Smart South African health experts say HIV-positive mothers on anti- retroviral (ARV) treatment can breast-feed their babies without fear of passing on the virus. William Mapham, a doctor and communications director at the Reproductive Health and HI
-- SA plant thought to boost immune system, delaying full-blown Aids A wild shrub that is common in gardens across the country is about to be tested as a medicine on people living with HIV/Aids. The plant is thought to boost immune systems to delay the progression of full-blown Aids and is a well-known medicine among t
-- Circumcision drive draws up to 100 men a day South Africa has the world s biggest Aids treatment programme and, like the rest of the world, it has recently adopted a renewed, urgent focus on HIV prevention. Combination HIV prevention was a key concept at the International Aids Conference in
Sexually active people could end up choosing to pop a pill every morning to ward off HIV infection. That is if a worldwide study on the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drug Truvada as a preventative measure proves to be a success. The research combines a preventative pill, counselling and the use of condoms by high ri
The Treatment Action Campaign has been plunged into financial crisis and faces closure if it does not retrench hundreds of staff and volunteers. In a statement this week, the Aids advocacy body s national committee said that if it did not retrench staff it would have to shut down next year. A third of the TAC s 95 perm
A World Health Organisation (WHO) study gives some weight to the argument for universal HIV testing, the BBC reports. The study used computer modelling to determine the effects of testing every person over 15. According to Reuters, the study, published in the medical journal Lancet, used data from
South Africa will come to a standstill at noon next Monday if government, the unions, business and civil society pull off the first ever workplace stoppage specifically for World Aids Day. Former president Nelson Mandela, president Kgalema Motlanthe, his deputy Baleka Mbete, health minister Barbara Hogan, Cosatu pres
-- Top athletes are putting their best feet forward to step up the fight against HIV/Aids Marathon champion Willie Mtolo, world karate champion Bradley Grant-Smith, world champion boxer Lehlohonolo Ledwaba and SA women s cricket vice-captain Daleen Terblanche are among 11 athletes joining the 1157km Sports Heroes Walk
Life expectancy now only 48.8 years for men, 49.6 for women MOST South Africans will not live to celebrate their 50th birthday, just like people living in strife-torn Somalia and impoverished Ethiopia . A UN Population Fund report puts the life expectancy of the typical South African man at only 48.
-- Experts say the flawed health system needs an overhaul, writes Claire Keeton NOW that South Africa knows the bloody price of HIV-Aids denialism, the critical issue is how to avoid further loss of life. HIV denialism by the former president Thabo Mbeki and former health minister Manto Tshabalala- Msimang resulted in
-- Damning Harvard study shows many died due to failure to roll out Aids drugs AIDS activists want former president Thabo Mbeki and his health minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, to account to a commission of inquiry for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. This follows the publication of a study by the Harva
SOUTH African celebs have joined the 90000 young people who are volunteering for HIV-Aids testing. The initiative is part of Levi s Red for Life campaign, which began in 2004 and is again being rolled out on university campuses around the country. Members of the groups Tidal Waves, Malaika, Flat Stanley and Jozi, singe
-- Barbara Hogan has impeccable credentials and her peers unconditional support, as Claire Keeton discovered The new minister of health isn t perfect. That s obvious. What s unusual is that Barbara Hogan is the only person, among many interviewed this week, to acknowledge her fallibility. The admission marks a seismic
Music legend Johnny Clegg is urging all South Africans, especially men, to overcome their fear and support a new HIV testing campaign. Clegg has even written a song for the campaign - A Man Knows - challenging men to have the courage to take the test and choose life. Springbok rugby hero Bryan Habana, Paralympian gold
The minister of health Barbara Hogan says she wants everything in place at the end of her first seven months in office to launch a full frontal attack on HIV/Aids and TB. Reducing the number of babies being born HIV-positive and making sure the South African National Aids Council (Sanac) is effective are two of the ste
HEALTH Minister Barbara Hogan set an overwhelmingly positive tone for the International Aids Vaccine conference in Cape Town this week, according to several international delegates. Alan Bernstein, executive director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, described Hogan s clear political support for Aids science - deli
A million South Africans a day have been getting SMS messages with information about the National Aids Helpline - and calls to the helpline have more than doubled since the project started in October. Project Masiluleke, or Project M, aims to send out 365 million message on cellphones about HIV/Aids and TB during the y
THE STEP AIDS vaccine trial halted last year when the vaccine did not protect volunteers from HIV infection was a setback but not a failed trial, experienced AIDS researchers said today. It moved the field light years forward...It gave us vital information to build a vaccine, information that we couldn t have gotten an
ARE HIV scientists monkeying around when they test AIDS vaccines on macaque monkeys? Top researchers at the international AIDS Vaccine Conference 2008 today debated whether monkeys should be the gatekeepers for whether human clinical trials of new vaccines go ahead. One of the strongest points from the No team, opposin
ONE of the world s most influential and experienced HIV scientists, Dr Anthony Fauci, said yesterday that he thought HIV exposure would always be a risk to people - even in the face of a successful vaccine. Speaking at the international AIDS Vaccine Conference 2008 in Cape Town, Fauci said that when the polio vaccine w
A NEW era has dawned for HIV science and politics in South Africa . At the opening of the International AIDS Vaccine Conference 2008 in Cape Town the new Minister of Health, Barbara Hogan, repeatedly stressed the importance of scientific, evidence-based responses to stop HIV. More than 900 of the world s vaccine sc
A South African super laboratory opens its doors tomorrow in a bid to find a universal cure for HIV/Aids. The Collaboration for Aids Vaccine Discovery lab will preserve infected cells for over two decades, giving researchers the ability to study strains of the virus as it mutates. The laboratory - based at the Universi
Close to one out of every two people with HIV in rural KwaZulu-Natal believes traditional remedies are safer than Western medicines. And more than 66% believe that they would not be able to live without traditional medicines, more than 60% believe that herbs control their HIV rather than antiretroviral drugs and 96% of
South Africans taking antiretroviral drugs are less likely to practise safe sex. This emerged during an exploratory study by the Human Sciences Research Council. One hundred and four HIV- positive men and women — on antiretroviral therapy (ART) for over six months — and 111 HIV-positive men and women not receiving ART
HIV-positive men and women and their partners have risky sex after heavy drinking, a new study shows. Nearly 5000 sex acts were reported in a Cape Town survey of 58 HIV-positive women and 24 HIV-positive men over a 42-day period, the results of which were published in the October issue of the Journal of Aids. More than
-- Thousands may be having unsafe sex after getting false negative results The government has failed to warn thousands of South Africans to retest for HIV after a recall of defective rapid HIV test kits used in Mpumalanga and Limpopo. Despite recalling the kit for quality reasons two months ago, the Department of Healt
Wealthy South Africans are apparently reluctant to allow nurses conducting South Africa s biggest HIV survey into their homes, leaving researchers in the dark as to how many of them have the virus. Whites and Indians living in wealthy suburbs are refusing access to staff from the third South African national HIV behavi
A woman who learned to swim and passed all the tests to be an air hostess had her world come crashing down when she was fired by South African Airways - allegedly after she was diagnosed HIV-positive. Three years after being fired, the 30-year-old has taken the airline to court in a bid to get reinstated in the job she
South Africa has no clue about HIV/Aids prevalence at its tertiary institutions - but that is set to change with the launch of a R228 million research programme on the epidemic. University bosses yesterday announced at the OR Tambo International Airport that a funding from the European Union has made it possible for
Big business has thrown its weight behind the Right to Know HIV testing competition, which offers a chance at a R100 000 prize every month to anyone who has an HIV test. And the public is steadily submitting entries. Elaine McKay, Discovery Health s head of HIV strategy, said: We are getting extraordinary amounts of su
Malungelo Booi, Lubabalo Ngcukana and Sashni Pather
-- Mom driven to poison four young kids, then herself A MOTHER of seven killed herself and her four youngest children after a rumour that she was HIV-positive led to her being ostracised and ridiculed. Nokuzola Mfiki was 37 and a resident of Mtambalala village, about 30km from Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape. She took
A GROUND-breaking study in Cape Town this week will try to discover whether what might be an HIV prevention drug for homosexual men works. South Africa s reputedly pinkest city was chosen for the trial. The University of Cape Town s Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation wants to determine whether
Pholokgolo Ramothwala and his partner dreamed of having a child. But Ramothwala has HIV and she does not, and he didn t want to risk infecting her. # Take an HIV test and win a R100,000 Now the couple have an exuberant little girl who turns four next week. They decided to try sperm washing , a process that separates th
Ninety percent of the 2 million children living with HIV globally, live in Sub-Saharan Africa, the 2008 United Nations (UN) Aids report has revealed. * African gene raises risk of HIV, research finds * Our children are dying About 370,000 children younger than 15 years old became infected with HIV last year, bringing t
Anglo American came under fire when it offered treatment to miners with Aids before the government did. But six years later the company s strategy has saved lives and money, and it is being hailed as a pioneer in HIV care. Now Anglo American and Discovery Health are assessing the feasibility of a plan to rapidly expand
-- MP and cleric makes controversial plea to Islamic authority Muslim brides and their future husbands could soon be forced to take Aids tests - and reveal the results to their clerics - before being allowed to marry. A Democratic Alliance member of parliament, Rafeek Shah, who is also an Islamic scholar and moulana (r
HIV campaign s R100000 prize will never be easier to grab You stand your best chance of winning R100000 if you enter the Right to Know HIV testing competition now. The first draw in this competition, launched by Discovery Health and the Sunday Times two weeks ago, will be in mid-August. This draw will have the smallest
The two main types of HIV tests are rapid tests and Elisa tests. Rapid tests use blood samples from a finger-prick and provide results in about 15 minutes. Elisa tests require a blood sample to be taken and sent to a laboratory, providing results in about a week. Both Elisa and rapid tests are close to 100% accurate.
New competition uses a cash incentive to get people to test. Take an HIV test and you could win R100000. Discovery Health and the Sunday Times today launch the Right to Know competition. For the next year, one person every month will be R100000 richer after the draw - the only entry requirement is to take an HIV test,
# HIV-911 refers people to more than 7000 HIV-related support services, including voluntary counselling and testing. For referral information call 0860 448 911 during office hours or visit www.hiv911.org.za # The National Aids Helpline on 0800 012 322 provides a confidential, anonymous 24-hour toll-free telephone couns
But mining companies are fighting back. Bobby Jordan reports Anglo American has approved a country-wide roll-out of its Aids drugs programme to treat the dying families of its 75000 workers. The move follows growing concern over a perfect storm of disease caused by two dangerous epidemics - HIV/Aids and drug-resistan
Brave contribution slated, while schools Aids budgets go unspent Johanna Bapela was lauded on Tuesday for openly disclosing her HIV-positive status during the launch of a multimillion-rand initiative for teachers affected by the HIV/Aids pandemic. But on Thursday the 39-year old Mpumalanga teacher did not go to school,
An attempt to halt South Africa s latest HIV/Aids vaccine trial has sparked a furious row among the country s medical fraternity. The trial has been branded a public health risk by an environmental group that claims the vaccine due to be tested is a potentially dangerous kind of genetically modified organism (GMO).
Report paints a grim picture of failure in fighting the country s Big Five killers, most of which are treatable About 75 000 children die in South Africa every year before they turn five. Of those, 22000 are dead within a month of being born, making South Africa one of only 12 countries - along with
The crisis at Eskom has claimed another victim: South Africa s much-vaunted AIDS vaccine programme is in jeopardy. The parastatal has pulled the plug on its R15-million funding to the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative (Saavi), leaving it short of a third of its budget. The worst-hit programme is the vaccine develop
Report paints a grim picture of failure in fighting the country s Big Five killers, most of which are treatable About 75 000 children die in South Africa every year before they turn five. Of those, 22000 are dead within a month of being born, making South Africa one of only 12 countries - along with
No one who has been raped will ever be quite the same again. After the physical violation comes a long battle with fear, guilt, shame, depression and anger. Many people who have been raped also face the compound trauma of HIV or an unwanted pregnancy. Young children s bodies can be so badly damaged that they may never
A seven-year-old South African girl has revived Annie Lennox s solo HIV/Aids campaign. And the former Eurythmics star has told the Sunday Times that the death of her own baby, in 1988, started her on the road that has seen her become a champion of SA s HIV-positive mothers. The rock diva relaunched her campaign single,
Popular Metro FM talkshow host and Aids activist Chriselda Kananda charged a fee of R11400 to deliver a motivational talk to university students about living with the pandemic. But authorities at Wits University refused to pay her a cent, saying Aids awareness campaigns should not be used for commercial gain. Kananda w
A floating university housed in a luxury cruise liner is due to dock in Cape Town today. The Scholar Ship, which is carrying 200 students and faculty from 35 countries, will sponsor five South African university students as part of an international R15-million bursary for 2007/2008. The world s first floating universit
The government boosted its expenditure for health services to R75,5-billion - a part of which will bring better treatment for people living with Aids. Health was one of the essential services that was bolstered by increased government funding - with R2.1-billion dedicated to increasing the number of people on anti-retr
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang gave her backing yesterday to so-called dual therapy drugs for preventing babies getting HIV from their mothers. Her remarks to a parliamentary briefing followed disciplinary action launched against a doctor in KwaZulu-Natal, Colin Pfaff, who has been using the treatment on his
When Fergie, the Black Eyed Peas vocalist and just-appointed spokeswoman for the M.A.C Cosmetics company s Aids fund, tears up, she does so beautifully. Fergie and I are chatting in the penthouse suite of a luxury hotel in Manhattan s Midtown district - about her decision to spend time this year with high-school studen
The government has for years accused private hospitals of achieving super profits and of being a major factor in the inflation of health costs. The industry commissioned research into the contention after the private hospitals indaba in September and released its report this week. The report refutes claims of super-nor
THE biggest challenges President Thabo Mbeki has faced since he was elected in 1999 remain on his to-do list for his last year in office. They include HIV-Aids, resolving the Zimbabwe crisis, making a significant dent on poverty, land reform and making poor schools work. After months of random blackouts that have hobbl
UP TO half of circumcised South African men did not undergo the procedure properly , leaving them more at risk of contracting HIV than men who went under the scalpel in a clinical setting. This was one of several findings presented to an international conference in the US this week, attended by the world s top HIV/Aids
PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki reiterated in his State of the Nation speech several of the promises made by ANC president Jacob Zuma in his speech marking the ANC s January 8 anniversary and party headquarters said it was satisfied. Reacting to Mbeki s speech, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said: There has never been an e
Director Sami showed a penchant for the unusual in his debut film, Uyir, and appeared comfortable with the themes of lust and adultery. His second film, Mirugam, was steeped in controversy before its release because of the in-famous incident when he slapped lead actress Padmapriya on the set. It took some serious lobby
Almost half the security guards questioned in a recent survey said they had not been tested for HIV. This despite more than 80% of them saying they knew where testing was available. The Human Sciences Research Council surveyed security guards and people working in legal services, such as lawyers, and legal secretaries
US FUNDING for HIV/Aids programmes in South Africa this year comes close to matching the South African government s own budget for dealing with the epidemic. The US will provide R4.3-billion to South Africa in 2008 to support its HIV/Aids programmes, Mark Dybul, the US global Aids co-ordinator, said in Pretoria on Frid
PART TWO: Gavin Evans analyses the president s successes and failures And so it was that the leopard inherited the crown, revealing different spots to those on display in exile years. Before touching on these, it should be said that Thabo Mbeki did some things well. Most notably, he maintained economic stability and fo
AFTER the dirt roads peter out in Boore village in Zimbabwe , a relative leads the way on foot. The path twists through thornbushes, past a snake hole in a baobab tree, and down a slope of powdery dust into the bed of a once-flowing river. He stops. He is not sure whether we have indeed been invited to interview Henry
AIDS activist Zackie Achmat turned his focus to love yesterday as he wed his blue-eyed boyfriend. The Treatment Action Campaign chairman married Dalli Weyers in a romantic picnic setting in front of about 300 guests at the Imperial Yacht Club in Lakeside, near Cape Town. Judge Edwin Cameron, complete with glitter eye m
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