Funding by Faith
A community caregivers project for rural KwaZulu-Natal AIDS orphans and vulnerable children hangs in the balance as donor money from the United States dries up.
Hospital horrors
The hospital is full. Two young girls lie on trolleys in the main hallway. They are wrapped in pink blankets; drips come out of
their arms and hang on the walls. One looks in severe agony. She calls out for a nurse again and again. heir mother tells
us that they arrived at the hospital seven hours ago and have yet to leave the hallway.
New SANAC CEO responds to questions about his past
Dr Sandile Buthelezi was recently appointed as the new head (CEO) of the South African National AIDS Council. His appointment follows the suspicious non-renewal of the previous CEO’s contract Dr Fareed Abdullah and unsuccessful attempts to lure Eastern Cape head of health Dr Thobile Mbengashe to the post.
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…
Hearing a problem, and solving it
By Ntsiki Mpulo – Nombulelo Sojina* cradles her baby close to her chest in a kangaroo mothering-style of skin-to-skin
contact. The child’s tiny head is barely visible under the blanket in which she is swaddled.
Communities in crisis
By Treatment Action Campaign The Treatment Action Campaign has shared the following stories with Spotlight from their provincial operations in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Free State. Elsewhere in this…
In good hands
By Ntsiki Mpulo – Eyes bulging, lips cracked, ribs clearly visible under taut skin; the man appears on the verge of taking his last breath.
The barefoot soldiers of a public health care system that doesn’t seem to care
By Nomatter Ndebele – For the past 17 years, 55-year old Doris Ntuli has worked as a community caregiver (CCG) in the community of Sweetwaters, in Pietermaritzburg, Durban. In that time Ntuli has only received a pay increase of R300 (US$20). Her total monthly income is R1500 (US$95).
“Bring your pubic hair” – healers and quacks continue to thrive in KwaZulu-Natal
In KwaZulu-Natal, according to reports from the Human Sciences Research Council, there are 1.8 million people who are HIV positive. Of those, 1.1 million are on the antiretroviral programme. Yet, despite making great strides in the fight against HIV, the streets of KZN are still full of non-medical “healers” who prey on sick, desperate and vulnerable people desperate to be cured of HIV. Nomatter Ndebele visits two “healers” with thriving businesses.
Fewer children are dying of severe malnutrition, but ignorance continues to kill babies
By Bill Corcoran & Nomatter Ndebele – Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) remains stubbornly entrenched in many of KwaZulu-Natal province’s rural and peri-urban communities, on-the-ground evidence gathered by the Spotlight suggests.
A time of dying in Durban
By Kerry Cullinan – Every day, I passed three funeral parlours on my 5km drive to work in central Durban. Shiny hearses lined up in the street, one behind the other. Fetching, taking, waiting.
A full version of the special edition of Spotlight will be released during the International AIDS Conference in Durban which starts on 17 July. This is an article which will be published in Spotlight.