Professor Ntobeko Ntusi may be softspoken, but he is not afraid to stand by his strongly held views. As he is set to take up the hot-seat at the country’s primary health research funder, he tells Spotlight’s Biénne Huisman about his background and his priorities for the new job.
Last year Spotlight reported that pilot projects testing out a new HIV prevention injection and a vaginal ring in South Africa would start early in 2023. Yet, as delegates gathered for the SA AIDS Conference in Durban last week, those pilots hadn’t yet started. Alicestine October and Elri Voigt have the latest on the state of play with these critical projects.
The scientific evidence that exclusive breastfeeding is best for infants is very strong. Yet, some baby milk formula companies continue to use questionable methods to create demand for their products, thereby undermining breastfeeding. Elsabé Brits explores this and spoke to experts based on a series of articles published in The Lancet.
A vaginal ring used to prevent HIV infection is safe to use during late pregnancy and while breastfeeding, according to findings presented at a major international HIV conference in Seattle in the United States. The news comes as South Africa prepares for a likely national rollout of the ring and as more research confirms the safety of an HIV prevention pill during pregnancy. It is estimated that offering these products to pregnant and breastfeeding women could avert up to 136 000 new infections in roughly the next decade. Laura Lopez Gonzalez reports.
One of the hot topics at the recently concluded AIDS 2022 conference held in Montreal, Canada, was how HIV prevention interventions such as pills or injections that prevent HIV infection should be made available to different groups of people. Tiyese Jeranji spoke to some local experts and an activist about the rich set of discussions.
Broadly neutralising antibodies (bnAbs) are one of the most active and exciting areas in HIV research. Last year Spotlight reported on a “proof of concept” study showing that a specific bnAb can successfully prevent infection with certain strains of HIV. Now, we also have intriguing findings suggesting that bnAbs may have a role to play in the treatment of HIV in children. Elri Voigt reports.
We know antiretroviral therapy can prevent HIV infection, but can natural biological substances do the same? The results of a recent scientific trial have answered this question: Yes, using broadly neutralising antibodies. But what are broadly neutralising antibodies? How do they work? And when will the average person get access to them? Amy Green breaks down the science.
According to the National Department of Health HIV prevention pills are now available at 1 227 public sector facilities (36% of the total). While far from the 100% target, this is a substantial improvement on the roughly 160 facilities that provided the pills six months ago. Amy Green reports.
The HIV epidemic is far from over and we will not reach key UNAIDS targets and control HIV unless we end HIV-related stigma, argues Prof Linda-Gail Bekker.
While progress in the race for effective COVID-19 vaccines has been rapid and impressive, an effective HIV vaccine remains elusive. As part of Spotlight’s World AIDS Day 2020 coverage, Kathryn Cleary asks two of South Africa’s top vaccine researchers to update us on where we are in the race for an HIV vaccine.
Antiretroviral (ARV) injections that may protect women from becoming HIV-positive, if proved to be safe and effective, will be a major step forward in the fight against the HIV pandemic. Siyabonga Kamnqa reports.
