The silver bullet of indicators?
Every few months we are confronted with new AIDS statistics in newspaper headlines. Some of these tell an important story, others less so. Yet, there is one statistic that could…
The right to access to treatment: The Stop Stock Outs Project
The National Strategic Plan (NSP) on HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and TB (2012-2016) addresses the drivers of HIV and TB epidemics, and builds on the achievements of the previous…
Empty promises in the Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape Health Crisis Action Coalition is a group of organisations and individuals working toward a common goal: The fulfillment of the right to health in a province in…
The answer is patently obvious
The question of how the government intends to finance our National Health Insurance (NHI) is a critical piece of the health puzzle that remains unanswered. As the pilot projects have…
As good as it gets
[caption id="attachment_2762" align="alignnone" width="570"] The clinic waiting room in Embalenhle is the dusty courtyard outside the buildings – rain or shine, this is where patients wait their turn to be…
A magazine that’s a friend in need
She’s like the girlfriend who can answer all your crazy sex questions. She speaks her mind on issues, and she even has great tips on how to rock the season’s…
The drug default dilemma
Next to Bheki Nzuza’s desk is a large cardboard box filled with medicines – discarded antiretroviral (ARV) medicines. Nzuzu, is the operations manager at Piet Retief Hospital and on a…
‘HIV is not my whole life’
Gugu Dladla is seven months pregnant, and she and her partner are both HIV positive. Knowing their HIV positive statuses, their decision to have a child wasn’t taken lightly. But…
Enough hot air – it’s time for clean water
Mpumalanga is a major water catchment zone supplied by the Olifants, Vaal, Imfolozi-Pongola and Komati-Crocodile rivers. But you take a chance, drinking tap water in Ermelo. Locals won’t touch it…
Working the night shift
It’s one of the first cold autumn nights in Piet Retief and a soft drizzle has set in. A mobile clinic parked under the lonely glow of a parking lot…
A positive attitude
For Gugu Xulu (31), 2005 was a dark year. First, she buried her boyfriend, the father of her child. Then, just days later she learned she was pregnant again, and…
All not well at Piet Retief
At first glance Piet Retief’s hospital looks like a facility that stands proud. It’s clean, modern and operational. It’s also strangely quiet – it’s the silence that reveals the problem.…