A vision without a plan: In-depth analysis of SA’s new HIV and TB plan
South Africa’s HIV and TB plan for the next five years has been riddled with controversy. Here’s our assessment of the plan.
Health budget fails to address HR crisis
By Russell Rensburg, Rural Health Advocacy Project In the tabling of the national department of health’s budget for 2017/2018, minister of health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, delivered an impassioned address about…
Full NSP finally published
After substantial delays the final version of South Africa’s National Strategic Plan (NSP) for HIV, Tuberculosis and STIs 2017 – 2022 was finally published on the website of the South…
Let our Actions Count: SA National Strategic Plan for HIV, TB & STIs 2017-2020
This is the fourth National Strategic Plan (NSP) that South Africa has adopted to guide its response to HIV, Tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections. Viewed together, the plans set out…
TAC survey highlights poor infection control in clinics
By Marcus Low Tuberculosis (TB) infection control measures in some South African public sector clinics fall woefully short. This is according to an infection control survey that was published by…
No Need to Embellish our Achievements or to Diminish our Challenges when it comes to HIV
By Fareed Abdullah When I joined government in 1994 there was not only an openness to dissenting opinions; it was encouraged. When we met, month after month, as the Health…
Round-up of responses to SA’s new AIDS/TB plan
On Friday 31 March 2017 South Africa’s National Strategic Plan (NSP) for HIV, TB an STIs 2017 – 2022 was launched in Mangaung, Free State. However, as of noon on Monday 3 April the final plan has not yet been made public.
The madness and evil of Manto and Thabo meets the madness and evil of Bathabile and Jacob
By Anso Thom
Having reported with many journalist colleagues on the darkest days on former President Thabo Mbeki and his health minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s distressing, fatal and quite mad HIV-denialism, the latest saga around social grants did bring back a sense of déjà vu.
Measuring up to the task of tackling HIV and TB in the new NSP
As the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) nears completion of the next National Strategic Plan (NSP) on HIV, TB, and STIs (2017-2022), lofty ambitions for positive outcomes are in place. However, what provinces and districts are expected to measure in order to track implementation and incremental steps toward these goals is—at this point—completely absent from the NSP.
The Achilles Heel of the new NSP: Accountability and Equity
As we move towards the release of South Africa’s latest National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS, TB and STI’s it is important to celebrate the successes achieved since the end of AIDS denialism and the introduction of a revitalised AIDS response in 2006.
Prisons and the New NSP: Nobody left behind?
by Ariane Nevin and Thulani Ndlovu- Evidence has shown that prisons are a key battleground in the fight against HIV and TB.This means that any HIV and TB plan that doesn’t address the drivers of HIV and TB in prisons will fall woefully short of achieving its goals. And sadly, the latest draft of the NSP, with its inadequate prison-focused interventions, looks set to do just that.
HIV docs win quack HIV gel case
The South Gauteng High Court this week ruled in favour of the SA HIV Clinicians Society in its legal battle with a doctor who promoted a product marketed as Dr Hugh’s Dermo Blue Pre-sex Protection Gel, which claimed to prevent HIV infection.