That HIV can develop resistance to the drugs used to treat it is nothing new, but results from recent studies reveal the emergence of resistance in subsets of people living with HIV to dolutegravir – an antiretroviral widely used in South Africa. Top HIV experts spoke to Elri Voigt about the new findings and what it means for people living with HIV in the country.
Despite South Africa’s impressive HIV testing figures, a subset of people started taking antiretroviral therapy far later than is ideal for their health, shows new data from the leading mathematical model of HIV in the country.
Scientists worldwide are sounding the alarm at the return of syphilis, describing the comeback of the easily preventable infection as a huge public health failing – as an effective vaccine remains elusive.
Condom distribution in South Africa has dropped dramatically over the last five years, finds a Spotlight analysis of data recently published in the Health System Trust’s District Health Barometer.
Over the last four years South Africa has taken large strides in making HIV prevention pills available at public sector clinics, but uptake has not been as good as some may have hoped. Thabo Molelekwa asks several experts why this might be.
Research into the link between disordered sleep and disease show an outsized burden on the most vulnerable. It’s sounding alarms for sleep equity to have a place on the public health agenda, reports Ufrieda Ho.
Obesity is a public health crisis in South Africa, similar to HIV in the late 1990s, Dr Nomathemba Chandiwana tells Spotlight on the sidelines of the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Denver, Colorado. She also presented research that found lifestyle behaviour changes had a limited effect on reversing weight gain in people living with HIV.
While three new tuberculosis (TB) medicines have been registered in South Africa over the last decade, TB treatment still comes with several side effects and requires taking multiple different medicines, typically for six or more months. The search for better TB medicines got a boost last week with the presentation of promising findings from a study conducted in South Africa on an experimental drug called quabodepistat. Elri Voigt reports on this and other TB studies presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Denver, Colorado.
A company headquartered in Johannesburg will start making flexible silicone rings to protect women from HIV. The move signals a strong vote of confidence in an African firm to supply the ring at adequate scale and affordable prices, and a crucial step to making the continent self-reliant, reports Catherine Tomlinson.
There’s a resurgence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in South Africa and around the world. The Gauteng Department of Health recently reported an increase of newly acquired STIs, in particular gonorrhoea and chlamydia. This spike in cases call for management guidelines and awareness programmes to be reviewed, reports Ufrieda Ho.
South Africa is barrelling towards its most consequential and most competitive national and provincial elections since 1994. Spotlight editor Marcus Low asks what is on the line in these elections from a healthcare perspective and argues that the stakes are particularly high when it comes to NHI and the Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provincial health departments.
To respond to the call to end AIDS by 2030, Dr Yogan Pillay argues it is firstly critical to agree on what we mean by ending AIDS. Secondly, he suggests it is important to have accurate and granular data that can inform a more targeted approach to reaching those people that the health system typically does not reach.
