HIV: Not enough attention given to children
Children constitute about 40% of South Africa’s population and it is therefore critical that the National Strategic Plan (NSP) for the Prevention and Management of HIV, STIs and TB, focuses…
No NSP indicators to help patients in pain
Palliative care is mentioned only once in the National Strategic Plan, within a sub-objective indicating a commitment to keeping people with HIV, STIs and TB within the healthcare system and…
Inaction puts thousands of patients’ lives at risk
[caption id="attachment_1791" align="alignnone" width="567"] The map above shows health facilities reporting a stock-out or shortage of ARV or TB supplies in the past three months. Each red dot represents a…
Taking stock of HIV response
[caption id="attachment_1883" align="alignnone" width="567"] (Photo by Samantha Reinders, Médecins Sans Frontières)[/caption] The National Strategic Plan is a dynamic document that needs to be adapted through regular reviews of the evolving…
Making better use of numbers
The Minister of Health and other senior health officials are rightly proud of the recent good news about HIV in South Africa: the rate of new infections is dropping, the…
Quality goes down as quantity goes up
“When you know better you do better” Maya Angelou, celebrated civil rights activist and poet. Do we know what is going on with South Africa’s antiretroviral treatment (ART) programme? Can…
TB: Tackling an orphan disease
Tuberculosis (TB) is (1) the leading cause of death in South Africa and (2) a public health crisis. Most of the TB deaths are preventable and the public health crisis…
Health system failing to track babies after birth
South Africa is roundly praised for the rate of mother-to-child transmission which has plunged from 8% in 2008 to an estimated 2.7%, in 2011 (Medical Research Council survey) and is…
Losing patients
Within just over a decade, South Africa’s handling of its HIV crisis has seen the country transformed from an international pariah to a leader. Once known for denying HIV treatment…
Motsoaledi happy with HIV response
[caption id="attachment_1760" align="alignnone" width="567"] Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi. (Picture by Robert Hamblin.)[/caption] When Dr Aaron Motsoaledi was appointed health minister in May 2009, the country was slowly emerging…
HIV and TB: Facing up to the current challenges
Ten years ago on 19th November 2003 the late Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang made public South Africa’s first plan to treat people with HIV using anti-retroviral (ARV) medicines. The announcement came…
Turning research into action: New challenges in the fight against HIV
[caption id="attachment_1599" align="alignnone" width="567"] Photo courtesy of KZN Media[/caption] We know a good deal about HIV in South Africa, but are we using and sharing this knowledge effectively? Where…