New tuberculosis medicine studied in South Africa approved in United States
The new tuberculosis medicine pretomanid has just been registered by the United States Food and Drug Administration. What are the implications for South Africa?
High price delays introduction of new TB prevention therapy
A new form of TB prevention therapy promises various advantages over the current offering, but a high price is delaying its introduction in South Africa.
Tuberculosis in SA: Three graphs that tell the story
South Africa has one of the highest TB burdens in the world. Here we tell the story of TB in South Africa using three graphs.
KZN’s HIV and TB plan: Good on structure, low on detail
Each of South Africa’s nine provinces is supposed to have an HIV and TB plan that guides provincial implementation of the National Strategic Plan. Here’s Spotlight’s analysis of KwaZulu-Natal’s plan.
Minister: We must have communities, especially people living with HIV tell us what is needed
Address by Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize at the opening of the 9th South African AIDS Conference.
The TB in the air we breathe
Ground-breaking research being done in Masiphumelele outside Cape Town aims to answer important questions about how tuberculosis is transmitted.
#FootSoldiers: Do the work that nobody wants to do
At the start of the nineties, very few doctors were willing to take up the fight against TB. Faced with the option of Oncology or TB, Van Rensburg opted for TB. She is still at the coal face of the TB fight in Klerksdorp. Nomatter Ndebele and Thom Pierce went to meet her.
New guides to advocating in AIDS councils
Spotlight has developed two new advocacy guides for members of provincial or district AIDS councils. One focuses on TB prevention and the other on retention in care.
New science: Highlights from CROI2019
Last week the Conference for Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) was held in Seattle, USA. Spotlight did not attend this year’s conference, but fortunately all CROI abstracts and presentations are made available online. Below we have picked some highlights of relevance for South Africa.
Is South Africa on track to meet NSP targets?
On World AIDS Day 2018 we assess how South Africa is faring against 10 key targets set in the National Strategic Plan (NSP) on HIV, TB and STIs 2017 – 2022.
Money will show how serious the BRICS are about TB
Whether or not the BRICS puts new money on the table for TB research, is a crucial test of whether the United Nations High-Level Meeting on TB represents a new dawn in the fight against TB, or just empty rhetoric.
Major downward adjustment of SA TB figures by WHO
The dramatically lower rate of new tuberculosis infections and TB deaths in South Africa just reported by the World Health Organisation primarily reflects a change in methodology rather than an actual change in the number of TB cases. Either way, it makes for welcome news.