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.
New dawn in TB prevention therapy
After decades of relying on isoniazid-based TB preventive therapy as the best option for TB prevention, a number of new regimens have done well in clinical trials and at least some of them will soon be rolled out.
AIDS2018: Humans in the Age of HIV-Young people & SRHR
By Ngqabutho Mpofu Nosipho Soga is a 19-year-old learner who hails from Kuyasa, a Khayelitsha township in Cape Town. She can best be described as bubbly, intelligent, engaged and relatively…
AIDS2018: Humans in the Age of HIV-All about Love
By Ngqabutho Mpofu Dressed in a Robert Sobukwe Dashiki and trendy shoes, Thando Jack draws [caption id="attachment_6508" align="alignright" width="300"] Thando Jackby Joyrene Kramer[/caption] gazes from the mainly white upper middle-class…
The numbers: HIV and TB in South Africa
What are the key numbers regarding the HIV and TB epidemics in South Africa? We have published a new page on our website where we will keep track of all the latest estimates from a variety of sources.
SA ahead of World Health Organisation in recommending new TB medicine
The South African Department of Health this week announced it will be making a new tuberculosis medicine available more widely than recommended by the World Health Organisation. The department deserves credit for this brave decision that will both save lives and prevent many patients from suffering irreversible hearing loss.
8 key findings from new district health report
The Health Systems Trust last week published the latest edition of the District Health Barometer (DHB). The DHB provides a wealth of district, provincial and national level data on a wide variety of indicators. Below we have picked out eight interesting national-level findings.
Editorial: The new hiv & TB plan – Three months to get it right
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.