The opening of South Africa's first "AIDS village" on Thursday was not what people living with HIV/AIDS needed, and would cause "more harm than good", the spokesperson for the National Association of PWAs (NAPWA) told PlusNews on Friday.
Equity in Health
SOUTH AFRICA: AIDS village causes "more harm than good" - NAPWA
SOUTH AFRICA: Business wakes up to the HIV/AIDS threat
A special report from IRIN plusnews
The Ethembeni Care Centre in northern KwaZulu-Natal is set in a pleasant forest clearing just outside the industrial hub of Richards Bay. The region is in the eye of the HIV/AIDS storm in a province soon to experience negative population growth due to the disease. The hospice is currently home to nineteen patients, most are dying of AIDS-related illnesses. Volunteers lay their frail bodies out on the veranda every morning so they can enjoy the view and listen to the birds, between frequent bouts of TB-induced coughing. Ethembeni is the first industry-funded AIDS hospice in South Africa, and its symbolic of changing attitudes towards the epidemic on the part of sub-Saharan Africa's biggest business community.
Further details: /newsletter/id/28652
SOUTH AFRICA: Communities battle with explosion of AIDS orphans
A special report from IRIN plusnews
As Africa struggles to cope with the enormity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the grim legacy of the disease - the millions of orphans it leaves behind - remains one of the most pressing socio-economic concerns for the continent. Data from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) suggests that 19 sub-Saharan African countries will have a total of 40 million orphans by 2010, due in large part to HIV/AIDS.
Further details: /newsletter/id/28655
South Africa: De-Registration of Nevirapine Unlikely: TAC
The Treatment Action Campaign had no reason to believe that the Medicines Control Council would withdraw the registration of the anti-retroviral drug nevirapine, the Pretoria High Court has heard.
SOUTH AFRICA: DYING TO FIGHT
'Avoid Aids, come inside' says the sign outside the sex shop near the Durban beachfront. Just 100 meters away 500 Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) activists, from 110 branches across South Africa, were meeting at the second TAC National Congress to plan how to carry on their fight for the roll out of a comprehensive treatment plan for the 5 million people living with HIV-AIDS. With the highest national HIV prevalence in the world, AIDS is estimated to have caused 40% of all adult deaths in 2001, as many as 1,000 people a day according to UNAIDS (a figure not challenged by the ANC government). Addressing the Congress on the final day, the historic nature of this campaign was underscored by the UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS, Stephen Lewis, who compared TAC with some of the greatest social movements of the twentieth century and the "anti-globalisation" movement of the twenty-first.
South Africa: Experts advocate midlevel health care providers' role in abortion care
At a recent landmark conference in South Africa, 50 prominent health care providers, public health researchers, policymakers and representatives of technical agencies from around the world issued a call to action in support of advancing the role of midlevel health care providers in menstrual regulation and safe abortion care.
Further details: /newsletter/id/28990
South Africa: Fiscal Review Reveals Impact of HIV/AIDS
The review of provincial and local government finances released this week by South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, revealed the impact of HIV/AIDS on service delivery, budget forecasts and personnel planning throughout government, saying the affects of the pandemic were becoming visible.
SOUTH AFRICA: GOVERNMENT STAGES A DRAMATIC ABOUT-TURN ON ITS HIV/AIDS POLICY
President Thabo Mbeki and his cabinet have at last backed off from their controversial stance on antiretroviral drugs, with a high-powered government delegation announcing before journalists that the health department is working on a universal roll-out plan of nevirapine. In a first admission of the efficacy of the drugs, Health Minister Manto Tshabala-Msimang read from the executive's statement: "Cabinet noted that they (antiretrovirals) could help improve the conditions of people living with AIDS if administered at certain stages in the progression of the condition, in accordance with international standards."
South Africa: Government Welcomes Bank's Decision Not to Evict HIV/Aids Orphans
The Department of Social Development says it welcomes the decision by Cashbank to write off an outstanding housing loan of AIDS orphans living in Protea Glen in Soweto.
South Africa: Health Mec Admits Appalling State of Public Hospitals
Health MEC Dr Bevan Goqwana admitted the legislature's health committee report damning the appalling state of public hospitals in the province reflected the "reality of the situation".