By Marcus Low, Spotlight Editor – At the end of this year South Africa’s big plan to fight HIV and tuberculosis (TB) comes to an end. The National Strategic Plan (NSP) for HIV, TB and STIs 2012-2016 will be replaced by the 2017-2021 NSP. It is vital that the new NSP avoids the mistakes of the past and fully incorporates new scientific evidence.
This open letter from Mark Heywood appeared on Spotlight’s website and in the Daily Maverick at the end of August. While we are three months further down the line, the issues highlighted by Mark are still relevant and important to take note of as the new plan for HIV and TB is crafted. We welcome responses to this, please write to the Editor and let’s talk!
Delays at the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) has meant that the new NSP (National Strategic Plan) will now only be ready in March 2017.
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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
By Marlise Richter[1], Thuli Khoza[2] and Katlego Rasebitse[3] Sex Work and the ‘National Strategic Plan on HIV, STIs and TB 2017-2022’ - time to be brave! No HIV plan or…
By Sasha Stevenson- South Africa’s new National Strategic Plan (NSP) on HIV, TB and STIs will be launched on March 24.
By Marcus Low and Ntsiki Mpulo – Aircraft have been used effectively to provide emergency medical services and to transport medical specialists and other supports services to deep rural and underserved areas in South Africa since 1960.