Latest
New guides to advocating in AIDS councils
Spotlight has developed two new advocacy guides for members of provincial or district AIDS councils. One focuses on TB prevention and the other on retention in care.
Silicosis: The names in Paragraph 7
Photographer Thom Pierce reflects on the news that 10 out the original 56 applicants in the silicosis class action have died. Pierce was a key part of a team that created the "Price of Gold" exhibition.
New science: Highlights from CROI2019
Last week the Conference for Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) was held in Seattle, USA. Spotlight did not attend this year’s conference, but fortunately all CROI abstracts and presentations are made available online. Below we have picked some highlights of relevance for South Africa.
Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal Circulars on migrants may be a sign of things to come
OPINION: The first few days of March 2019 must have been a time of great uncertainty for migrants in South Africa in need of health care services. Circulars by the Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal health departments said that all non-South Africans, other than refugees, would from now on have to pay in full for all health care services at public clinics and hospitals. By Sasha Stevenson
Vote4Health: Artist colony paints dull picture for rural healthcare
With less than 2 000 residents, one small government clinic and the nearest hospital 40 kilometres away, Hamburg residents in the small Eastern Cape hamlet are under strain. By Kathryn Cleary.
Spotlight’s Vote4Health
In the run-up to South Africa’s general elections in May 2019 Spotlight will be publishing a series of articles under the banner #Vote4Health.
Health4Sale: Limpopo air ambulance service grounded after dodgy contract
Two doctors who run a small-scale ambulance service in Louis Trichardt (Makhado) in Limpopo with no aeromedical experience, landed a lucrative air ambulance contract with the provincial health department which has already paid out close to R3-million in four months. By Anso Thom and Marcus Low
In-depth: The problem of stopping or not starting HIV treatment
Many people in South Africa living with HIV never start taking antiretroviral treatment, or start and then stop. Spotlight asked the experts how big a problem this is and what can be done about it.
Posted about Treatment in 2017
AIDS2018 Breaking News: Zero HIV transmissions in PARTNER study after gay couples had sex 77,000 times without condoms – an undetectable viral load stops HIV
By Simon Collins, HIV i-Base On Tuesday 24 July, the results from the extension to the PARTNER study were presented by Alison Rodger at a press conference at AIDS 2018, ahead of the main conference presentation. [1, 2] After eight years the study was unable to find a single linked HIV transmission when viral load …
AIDS2018: Reduction in price of bedaquiline welcome, but is it enough?
This week the price of bedaquiline in the public sector in South Africa was cut in half. What does this mean for the increased uptake of this critically important TB drug across the world? This week at the International AIDS Conference South Africa’s Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi announced that the South African government …
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AIDS2018: Delegates walk out on Sidibe
Hundreds of delegates walked out of the opening of the International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam last night in protest when UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe took the stage. By Kerry Cullinan, Health-e News Service Before the walkout, a group of African women read out a statement describing Sidibe as “aider and abetter of sexual harassment” …
AIDS2018: G23 women draw a line in the sand
This is a statement read out by the group of 23 women as Michel Sidibe took to the stage at the opening plenary. “…a political struggle that does not have women at the heart of it, above it, below it, and within it is not struggle at all.” – Arundhati Roy We are the group …
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AIDS2018: Humans in the Age of HIV-There was no one who came to visit them at their homes
By Ngqabutho Mpofu Ronnie came out in the early 1980s, telling his friends and sister that he was homosexual. This was not an easy thing to do, given the traditional Xhosa culture that he is from. He credits his support network for helping him come through that period in his life. Today he works in …
AIDS2018: Time to make AIDS political again
By Anele Yawa Two years ago, we welcomed the world to the International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa. At a march of ten thousand people we held up banners proclaiming that 20 million people still need treatment. At that conference we said to the world that AIDS is not over – and indeed, the …
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AIDS2018: Tangerine, a Thai transgender programme that works
Almost everyone in the HIV world is talking about providing services to key populations – a ground-breaking project in Thailand is providing an example of how to go about it. They kindly answered Spotlight’s questions. Q: What is the Tangerine project and how does it work? A: The “Tangerine” Community Health Center is the first …
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AIDS2018: Humans in the Age of HIV-There’s no one influencing me anymore
By Nomatter Ndebele Gloria lives in Vrededorp, Johannesburg with her partner and her 2-year-old son. She has been on drugs since 2013. Gloria started with Marajuana and then graduated onto harder drugs. She currently smokes Crystal Meth, which Is available in her neighborhood for R50 a hit (less than U$4). “I used to smoke rocks …
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Recent Episodes
Episode 6: Justice Edwin Cameron addresses the TAC 20-year celebrations
Justice Edwin Cameron of South Africa’s Constitutional Court recently addressed attendees at the TAC’s 20-year celebrations. We bring you a
recording of what he had to say to TAC members, supporters and allies.
Episode 5: Dr Fareed Abdullah on South Africa’s AIDS response
Dr Fareed Abdullah of the SA MRC, previously CEO of SANAC, recently addressed the TAC’s 20-year celebrations. Listen what he had to say about the history of South Africa’s AIDS response and where we are now.
Episode 4: Marijuana, health and the law in South Africa
Host Nomatter Ndebele chats to Dr Michael Herbst of the Cancer Association of South Africa about the landmark Constitutional Court judgement on the possession and use of marijuana and the judgement’s implications for the health of people in South Africa.
Episode 3: Sasha Stevenson on what NHI and HMI means for healthcare reform in South Africa
At a recent civil society meeting jointly hosted by SECTION27 and Spotlight, Sasha Stevenson, head of health at SECTION27, presented on the implications of NHI and HMI for access to healthcare in South Africa. We now make her informative and thought-provoking presentation available as a podcast. (We apologise for the poor quality of the recording.)
Videos
Cry Ndlovu Cry
Ndlovu Care Group and patients have been at the centre of a battle with the Limpopo health MEC who ended the contract and wants the almost 4 000 healthy HIV patients transferred to battling state clinics.
VIDEO: #FireBenny
The Treatment Action Campaign and partners recently held a meeting to establish the Free State People’s Health Coalition. More than 500 TAC members also took to the streets and delivered memorandums to the police and National Prosecuting Authority demanding an update on the charges against Health MEC Dr Benny Malakoane. This is a short clip of …
VIDEO: The Price of Gold
Judgment in the historic Silicosis Class Action, Bongani Nkala and 55 Others v Harmony Gold Mining Company Ltd and 31 Others, will be handed down in the South Gauteng High Court tomorrow (Friday 13 May 2016) at 9am. If the class is certified it will be the largest class to ever be certified in South Africa and …
VIDEO: TB Aware: Nulda Beyers
TB scientist Professor Nulda Beyers speaks about the critical needs to employeers to enable employees to get tested and treated for TB. Credit: Thom Pierce
