2005

Major loveLife funder pulls the plug: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - December 21, 2005; Reesha Chibba; loveLife, South Africa s biggest national HIV-prevention programme for youth, suffered a major setback this week when one of its biggest funders pulled the plug. The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria accounted for 30% of loveLife s annual budget. It agreed to fund loveLife with a five-year, $68-millio
HIV/AIDS Barometer - December 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - December 13, 2005; Estimated Aids related deaths in South Africa : 1 641 218 at noon on Tuesday, December 13, 2005 Think zinc: Adding zinc to the diets of HIV-positive children helps protect them, researchers report. The South African scientists say zinc supplements are a safe, simple and cost-effective way to reduce illnesses such as di
Sceptics doubt Zim's falling Aids rate: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - December 9, 2005; Belinda Beresford; The intriguing tale of Zimbabwe s apparent incremental victory over HIV continues, with the United Nations saying that the course of the disease in South Africa s troubled neighbour appears to have been altered. In a UNAids report titled Evidence for HIV Decline in Zimbabwe: A Comprehensive Review of the Epidemiologica
A new feminism: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - December 9, 2005; Marlise Richter**; I am perplexed. In the past few years, I have grappled with why the post-1996 women s movement (in whatever way one wants to define it) has not taken up HIV/Aids in South Africa as a flaming, life-and-death issue. If women s voices had been heard more loudly and coherently and more pressure had been put on the governme
HIV/AIDS Barometer - December 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - December 7, 2005; Estimated Aids-related deaths in SA: 1 635 526 at noon on December 7, 2005 India under fire: India s Health Minister, Ambumani Ramadoss, has described his own country s main Aids body as visionless . India, which reported its first case in 1986, now has more than five-million people infected with HIV. In addition,
Aids destroys dream of life in the big city: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - December 6, 2005; Fiacre Vidjingninou; Two years after escaping her African village to find an exciting new life in the big city, Monique lies shrunken, pale and feverish on her hospital death bed, gripped by a killer virus and by denial: I m not a prostitute. I can t have Aids. Beside her lies her six-month-old son. Without expensive treatment he won t lon
Safe sex without the squeak: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - December 5, 2005; Belinda Beresford; With a rustle and a softer squeak, an undercover agent against the HIV epidemic is being relaunched around the world. The female condom, or Femidom, is leaving behind its image as an unsexy plastic bag, and instead gaining a racier reputation as a sex toy. Women in developed countries may have crossed their legs at the
Sama challenges Rath's voodoo trials: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - December 2, 2005; Belinda Beresford; South African doctors are going head to head with the government over alleged unregulated clinical trials on HIV-positive South Africans using the controversial Dr Matthias Rath s unregistered vitamins. The South African Medical Association (Sama) has joined the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) in suing the South Africa
Tomorrow's stars line up for today's Aids fight: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - December 2, 2005; Fetteh; Ghana s soccer team have qualified for the World Cup for the very first time, and it is not only the fans that are cheering. So too are health campaigners, who hope that football fever might boost the fight against HIV/Aids. For the past three years, some of Ghana s most promising young talents have been learning not o
HIV/Aids barometer - December 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - December 1, 2005; Estimated Aids-related deaths in South Africa : 1 628 887 at noon on November 30 2005 Bilharzia threat: Treating bilharzia can benefit people with HIV/Aids, according to researchers. They say the finding suggests that bilharzia, often caused by people drinking or bathing in stagnant water, suppresses our ability to fig
Mystery of Zim Aids statistics: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - November 29, 2005; Belinda Beresford; South Africa , the economic powerhouse of Southern Africa, continues to see an escalating HIV epidemic, while economically crippled Zimbabwe has apparently brought down levels of HIV infection among its people. According to the latest United Nation s figures, one in three pregnant women in South Africa is HIV-positiv
HIV rates on the increase: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - November 29, 2005; Yolandi Groenewald; More than 60% of people infected with HIV/Aids call Africa their home -- and Southern Africa remains the epicentre of the global Aids epidemic, according to the United Nations s report on the pandemic that was released this week. Despite some light points, this week s UNAids report paints a bleak picture of a region wh
Trying to fill the information hole: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - November 29, 2005; Belinda Beresford; South Africa has the biggest anti-retroviral treatment programme in the world, if both public and private sector patients are included. About 78 000 people are receiving anti-retrovirals through state health facilities and another 60 000 are receiving treatment through the private sector. But these numbers pale i
Preparing the youth: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - November 29, 2005; Mail & Guardian reporter; Scouts all over Southern Africa will observe World Aids Day in a collaborative initiative to fight the rapid spread and devastating effects of HIV/Aids. The youth are more likely to bear the brunt of the HIV/Aids pandemic. No one knows this better than the South African Scout Association, an organisation that is focuse
TAC forges ahead in Aids-drug struggle: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - November 29, 2005; Fienie Grobler, Johannesburg, South Africa; Seven years ago, passers-by barely glanced at a handful of protesters on the steps of a Cape Town cathedral, unaware that they were witnessing the birth of Africa s most powerful Aids lobby group. By the end of that day, on December 10 1998, the small group -- including a 66-year-old grandmother, a medical student and
TV for Soweto: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - November 25, 2005; Kwanele Sosibo; A new chapter in Soweto s history will open on Saturday at 3pm, when a locally based community TV station goes on air for the first time. Armed with a special events broadcasting permit to coincide with World Aids Day, Soweto Community Television is embarking on a UHF free-to-air broadcast that ends on December 20.
Top-secret semen: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - November 25, 2005; Matuma Letsoalo and Vicki Robinson; The police forensic laboratory in Pretoria that is testing DNA samples obtained from the complainant in the rape claim against African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma is being heavily guarded to ensure that crucial evidence is not tampered with or the results leaked. Sources within the forensic lab said t
Place of hardship and hope: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - November 22, 2005; Kwanele Sosibo; As the Aids pandemic gathers momentum, the number of people requiring treatment grows, and more are dying every day. The reality is that just a small number of those who need anti-retrovirals have access to them. A number of private initiatives have sprung up recently to pick up the slack. One of these is the Tapologo
How the poor perish: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - November 22, 2005; Nomavenda Mathiane; As Pastor Thandi Sithole walked into the bereaved family s shack, at the back of the main house in Mapetla, Soweto, she was hit by the smell of poverty. It s difficult to explain it, but poverty has a smell, Sithole said. The mother of the deceased sat huddled in a corner next to a rickety chair with washing rags hangi
Living until you die: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - November 18, 2005; Pat Lucas; Johannes Lesaawane, who has been diagnosed with lung cancer, receives pain medication at home from Sophia Tsepetsi Agonising death from terminal illness is an unnecessary tragedy these days. While death is inevitable, the pain can be relieved with easily accessible medication -- but not for those who are dying beyond t
Scot's miracle HIV cure 'unlikely': Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - November 18, 2005; Belinda Beresford; In the mystery of the Scot and the disappearing HIV, it could be the vitamins that did it. But the culprit is far more likely to be an inaccurate blood test or a hidden viral infection. Recently, a 25-year-old Scot living in London said in paid interviews with two British tabloids that he was the first in the world to
HIV/Aids barometer - November 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - November 10, 2005; Aids-related deaths in South Africa : 1 609 879 at 11am on Thursday November 10 2005 Spreading the word: Nine million young people in Nigeria are to be sent text messages on Wednesday to raise awareness about HIV/Aids. Unicef is launching its Nigerian campaign because the country has the third highest number of people
A cervical revolution: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - November 8, 2005; Belinda Beresford; Tens of thousands of women s lives could be saved worldwide after South African researchers confirmed the success of a novel way of preventing cervical cancer. Researchers from the University of Cape Town have proved the effectiveness of a quick method to screen and treat women to prevent them from developing the disea
Sex survey shows South Africans are taking risks: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - November 8, 2005; Sixty-four percent of South Africans have had unprotected sex without knowing their partner s sexual history, according to the Durex Global Sex Survey. When compared to last year s results, this statistic is higher, which means that South Africans continue to take risks and put their lives in danger, said a statement f
HIV/Aids barometer - November 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - November 2, 2005; Aids-related deaths in South Africa : 1 602 377 at 1pm on November 2 2005 A new counter that reflects the estimated real-time number of Aids-related deaths in South Africa has been posted on www.redribbon.co.za. The website, sponsored by Metropolitan, provides up-to-date information on HIV and Aids in South Africa, whi
Dealing with grief: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - November 1, 2005; Pat Lucas; The 2004 school year was a tough one for Lerato Mokhele, a Grade 1 teacher at Asteri Primary School, on the border of Hillbrow in Johannesburg. Two young boys in her class always needed special attention. One boy had been abandoned by his mother and was living with another family, Mokhele said. The other boy lived with
When schools step in: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - October 31, 2005; Thabo Mohlala; In the face of widespread poverty in rural Mpumalanga, some schools serve as the glue in an environment where family units are disintegrating. They provide much-needed comfort and sustenance to orphans and children with poverty-stricken parents. By providing free transport, meals and classrooms with electricity, these
Holes revealed in Aids treatment programme: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - October 28, 2005; Mail & Guardian reporter; The government s comprehensive HIV/Aids treatment programme was launched 18 months ago and a proper system for monitoring and evaluating the rollout is still not in place. Delays in installing the system account for a large chunk of the R39million underspend by the health department s HIV/Aids cluster this year, reveal
Artfully put: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - October 28, 2005; Percy Zvomuya; Fashion shows are not often a life-affirming spectacle, with their expressionless, tissue-thin models flouncing up and down the ramp. But, this week, students from the fashion studies department of the University of Johannesburg (UJ) held a fashion exhibition with a difference. They designed and modelled garments made
In good taste: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - October 24, 2005; Matthew Krouse; Vanilla, liquorice and chocolate -- will these flavours entice South Africa s notoriously resistant men into wearing condoms? Last week, an Aids media project announced it would be distributing hundreds of thousands of free, vanilla-flavoured condoms to lure men into having safer sex. The ice-cream flavoured rubbers ar
HIV/AIDS Barometer: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - October 19, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 64 826 720 at noon on October 19, 2005 Take a break: Researchers in the United States and Uganda are exploring the implications of allowing HIV-positive patients to take a break from their medications every weekend, a strategy that could reduce the cost of treating the disease and im
HIV/AIDS Barometer: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - October 13, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 64 725 915 at noon on October 13, 2005 Manufacturer swallows bitter pill: Brazil has reached an agreement with United States pharmaceutical manufacturer Abbott Laboratories to lower Aids drug Kaletra s price, heading off a possibility that the country would break the pa
It doesn't cut both ways: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - October 12, 2005; Belinda Beresford; Have you cleaned behind your foreskin? Have you pulled it right back? my mother bellowed up the stairs to my brother every evening of my childhood. I grew up aware that male genital hygiene was important -- and, I m sure, so did the neighbours, given that we lived in a terraced house with cardboard walls. Today my two
Brink's loony tilt at journos: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - October 11, 2005; Kwanele Sosibo; Anthony Brink, President Thabo Mbeki s former HIV/Aids muse and now Dr Rath Health Foundation policy adviser , has launched an extraordinary attack on a number of South African women journalists, describing them as pious, industry-sweetheart, trendy-leftie stupid white women who employ a similar breathlessly dramatic a
A domestic denial: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - October 7, 2005; Karen Coustos; I am one of the privileged few in South Africa who has had access to wealth and, through wealth, to education. I live in a nice Cape Town home with a char and a gardener who help me uphold my lifestyle. Domestic help is the norm and as a white woman in her 30s, I have never known our household without a maid of some so
Give time, not money, asks new Aids campaign: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - October 7, 2005; Reesha Chibba, Johannesburg, South Africa; Comedian Marc Lottering plans to become a walking, talking condom dispenser, to encourage all Capetonians to protect themselves and to survive , he said in a statement announcing the launch of an innovative nationwide HIV/Aids pledge campaign this weekend. Pledges will be not for money, but rather for action. Ordinary
Matthias Rath 'should be prosecuted': Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - October 6, 2005; Elvira van Noort and Sapa; An immediate investigation by the Department of Health and the Medicines Control Council into the activities of anti-Aids-drug lobbyist Matthias Rath in the Western Cape township of Khayelitsha is needed, says the University of the Witwatersrand. The university s vice-chancellor, Professor Loyiso Nongxa, said in a stat
It's a date: How to find love online: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - October 4, 2005; Reesha Chibba; Clean-shaven, straight teeth and a friendly smile ... in a word, handsome. After a week of vigorous SMSing and long phone conversations, handsome and I decide to meet. Eager to see each other in real life, we meet in a parking lot -- and as I walk towards him, my excitement is replaced with anger almost immediately.
Making women aware of 'down there': Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - October 1, 2005; Belinda Beresford; Up to a third of new female HIV infections could be prevented if scientists could find an effective cure for a mysterious vaginal condition that affects many women in South Africa . Researchers from the University of Cape Town (UCT) have found that bacterial vaginosis, a change in the dominant bacteria that alters the
EDITORIAL: Then is now: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - September 30, 2005; Over the past week, 1 500 of the residents of Botleng [Delmas], in the Eastern Transvaal, have been infected with highly infectious disease caused by poor sanitation. Four have died. -- Weekly Mail & Guardian, November 26 1993. An editorial in this newspaper 12 years ago warned that typhoid was producing images of
HIV/AIDS Barometer - September 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - September 28, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 64 524 305 at noon on Wednesday, September 28, 2005 Fact: Women aged 15 to 24 in South Africa are substantially more likely to be HIV-positive than their male counterparts, according to a study published in the September 23 issue of the journal AIDS. Audrey Pettifor and colleagues fr
HIV/AIDS Barometer - September 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - September 21, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 64 423 509 at noon on Wednesday September 21, 2005 On the march: The HIV/Aids pandemic is affecting African military troops ability to defend their countries and operate peacekeeping missions on the continent. The Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies estimates that HIV preva
A spiral of mini-epidemics: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - September 16, 2005; Belinda Beresford; Scientists are reconceptualising the HIV/Aids pandemic as a huge number of mini-epidemics, each centred on a hyper-infectious individual. This is in contrast to the idea of a rolling tsunami of infections, with HIV-positive people spreading the epidemic throughout the long asymptomatic chronic stage of HIV. The new par
HIV/AIDS Barometer - September 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - September 14, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 64 322 790 at 12.05pm on September 14, 2005 Hurricane havoc: Federal officials, drug companies and Aids organisations are working to provide care to the nearly 8 000 HIV-positive people displaced two weeks ago by Hurricane Katrina. In the aftermath of the hurricane, health providers
It all starts with a glass dildo: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - September 14, 2005; Mail & Guardian Online reporter; Condoms everywhere, the stink of latex ... thousands of them rolling off the machines like sausages. From its nondescript factory in Turffontein, south of Johannesburg, Latex Surgical Products makes about 200 000 condoms every day. For the production of these intimate objects, the factory is a place as impersonal as yo
The Cinderella myth: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - September 14, 2005; Mercedes Sayagues; I have just returned from the Magic Kingdom. No, not Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The Magic Kingdom is a three-hour drive from Pretoria. In that pleasant land, the universal myths of Cinderella and Peter Pan -- the woman who marries up and the boy who does not want to grow up -- are re-enacted collectively every y
The forgotten human face of security: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - September 13, 2005; Angela Ndinga-Muvumba*; What future do we want to leave our children? World leaders should answer this when they gather in New York to negotiate United Nations reform proposals and review progress on the Millennium Development Goals. It was no great surprise that the High-Level Panel made critical links between security and development. But a
HIV/AIDS Barometer - September 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - September 7, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 64 223 178 at 2pm on September 7, 2005 European divide: A new iron curtain has emerged between East and West, triggered by Aids. Figures from UNAids show that in the West there are currently 570 000 people living with HIV. Countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have the highest
Increased safety at a snip: Mail and Guardian (Johannesburg) - September 6, 2005; Belinda Beresford; Mobile chop shops may be one of the best ways to curb South Africa s HIV/Aids epidemic, according to a major study carried out in Orange Farm, near Johannesburg. Not an outfit that dismembers cars, but one offering a more intimate service -- circumcision. Circumcising men appears to reduce their chances of catching HIV
Will Kortbroek run?: Mail and Guardian (Johannesburg) - September 2, 2005; Robert Kirby: LOOSE CANON; These past couple of weeks have been absolute hell for dedicated Kortbroek- watchers. And the next 13 days of the floor-crossing window aren t going to be any better as we wait, our hearts in our mouths, to see where the country s favourite one-size-fits-all politician next peddles his loyalties. Now that Kortbroek has
HIV/AIDS Barometer - August 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - August 31, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 64 121 103 at 12 noon on Wednesday, August 31 2005 Bushwacked: A senior United Nations official has accused President George W Bush of doing damage to Africa by cutting funding for condoms, a move that may jeopardise the success-ful fight against HIV/Aids in Uganda .
loveLife: Getting them young, keeping them alive: Mail and Guardian (Johannesburg) - August 31, 2005; David Harrison*: RIGHT TO REPLY; Rena Singer s article ( Is loveLife making them love life? , August 19) is unbalanced and factually flawed, but the most unfortunate part about it is that it promotes cynicism about the efficacy of South Africa s largest HIV- prevention effort targeting youth without offering insight into a more effective, alternative
The truth needs time: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - August 30, 2005; Henk Rossouw*; The nurse pointed at the long funeral procession coming down the slopes of the Drakensberg. We are dying, she said. For the past 30 years Me Makaoe had been riding up into the highlands on her Basotho pony, to treat the sick. The villagers trusted her, she had grown up with them, and they wanted her to be the one who t
Matthias Rath's ads 'reckless in the extreme': Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - August 30, 2005; Elvira van Noort; All future advertising from vitamin entrepeneur Matthias Rath s foundation and its allied organisations have to be vetted by the Association of Communications and Advertising, according to an Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruling. The ASA made its ruling after the Dr Rath Health Foundation did not obey the direc
HIV/AIDS Barometer - August 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - August 24, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 64 021 441 at 2pm on Wednesday, August 24, 2005 Sex ban ends: As a generation of young Swazi women ended a five-year vow of chastity in a traditional ceremony this week, health officials are debating the impact of the custom on reducing the risk of HIV infection. We have anecdotal ev
Testing times: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - August 24, 2005; Mercedes Sayagues; Out of the blue, one Monday morning, my Prince Charming calls from Dakar. He has been invited to an Aids conference in South Africa . Can I pick him up at Johannesburg International airport on Friday? Yummy. Nice prospect for a honeymoon weekend. I wax, manicure, pedicure, colour hair, stock up on bubbly, candles and t
Positive steps: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - August 19, 2005; Percy Zvomuya; South Africa is often considered to be in the unfortunate position of having some of the world s best laws and poli-cies to protect women and children but an inability to implement them. Take the roll-out of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for rape survivors to prevent HIV infection. In April 2002, Cabinet announced
HIV/AIDS Barometer - August 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - August 10, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 63 819 023 at 12.30pm Wednesday August 10, 2005 Conspiracy theory: A survey conducted by members of the United States s HIV Vaccine Communications Campaign of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has uncovered mixed feelings about HIV vaccines. Subjects were chos
Circumcised men less likely to get HIV, says SA study: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - August 4, 2005; Marina Lemle and James Njoroge; Heterosexual men who are circumcised are less likely to contract HIV/Aids from their female partners, according to ground-breaking South African research. In 2002, the scientists recruited more than 3 000 uncircumcised heterosexual men aged 18 to 24 from Orange Farm, a Johannesburg slum where about 32% of women have HI
HIV/AIDS Barometer - August 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - August 3, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 63 719 743 at 3pm on Wednesday August 3, 2005 African bias: The tragic situation in Africa has led Aids researchers to ignore the realities of other regions of the world, including Latin America, local activists stressed at the end of a major international conference held in
HIV/AIDS Barometer - July 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - July 27, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 63 617 177 at noon on Wednesday July 27, 2005 Aids hard sell from soft-drink manufacturers: India s National Aids Control Organisation (Naco) is asking soft-drink manufacturers to include HIV/Aids awareness messages in their advertisements in an attempt to reach 15- to 49-year-olds.
New website aims to help journalists cover HIV/Aids: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - July 25, 2005; Reesha Chibba; The HIV/Aids pandemic, which has affected millions of people in Southern Africa and around the world, often takes a back seat to dramatic news events and political scandals. According to the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/Aids and the World Health Organisation, currently there are more than 60-million HIV/Aids-i
HIV/AIDS Barometer - July 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - July 20, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 63 518 205 at 3pm on Wednesday July 20, 2005 Infections double: New Zealand recorded 33 new Aids cases in the first six months of this year, more than double the number reported in the first half of 2004, according to a new Institute of Environmental Science and Research report.
The TAC is unbowed by 'donkiepiels': Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - July 15, 2005; Marianne Merten; The government should launch an immediate investigation into the police s use of rubber bullets and tear gas against peaceful Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) demonstrators in the Eastern Cape, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. In a statement from New York, the organisation s Jonathan Cohen called the police action a
HIV/AIDS Barometer - July 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - July 13, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 63 415 563 at noon Wednesday July 13, 2005 Aids explosion: Asia faces a 150% increase in HIV/Aids infections over the next five years unless more is done, a report warns. In many countries the proportion of people infected is low but, because of the large populations of many Asian co
COMMENT: Ronald, why didn't you get tested?: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - July 11, 2005; Zackie Achmat; One of my closest friends and a long-time comrade, Ronald Louw, has died. Two major Aids related factors caused his death: HIV denial and undiagnosed tuberculosis (TB). Denial meant that he did not test for HIV until almost too late. And unreliable TB diagnostics developed more than 100 years ago meant that as his immu
HIV/AIDS Barometer - July 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - July 6, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 63 314 722 at noon on Wednesday, July 6, 2005 Off target: With just six months to go before the end of the year, it seems unlikely that the World Health Organisation s (WHO) campaign to put three million people in the developing world on anti-Aids drugs by the end of 2005 will be met
HIV/AIDS Barometer - June 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - June 29, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 63 213 933 at noon on Wednesday June 29, 2005 Asia faces Aids explosion: The HIV/Aids epidemic could explode across Asia - where one in four new infections worldwide occurs - unless authorities do more to fight the disease, experts said ahead of the 7th International Congress on Aids
TAC vs Rath: Final days in court: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - June 24, 2005; Marianne Merten; The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) is confident of a favourable ruling in its anti-defamation interdict proceedings against anti-Aids drug lobbyist Matthias Rath, in which judgement was reserved by the Cape High Court this week. The TAC started interdict proceedings two months ago, after it was repeatedly described as
HIV/AIDS Barometer - June 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - June 22, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 63 113147 at noon on Wednesday June 22, 2005 Malawi s commitment: Malawi has launched a comprehensive welfare plan to mitigate the impact of poverty and HIV/Aids on its estimated one million orphans. The National Plan of Action (NPA) for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC), launche
Moving on up: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - June 22, 2005; Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon; In the industrial landscape around the Johannesburg inner city, about 24 000 migrant men, mostly from KwaZulu-Natal, live in single-sex hostels. A further 15 000 men and women live in informal settlements. With 68% of the men and 80% of the women unemployed, life is a daily struggle for most. The Reproductive Health an
HIV/AIDS Barometer - June 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - June 15, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 63 012 339 at noon on Wednesday June 15, 2005 Growing concern: The HIV/Aids epidemic in Burma is being fuelled by a mixture of ignorance, denial and lack of government action , which is a dangerous cocktail that could result in an HIV/Aids prevalence consistent with some African nati
HIV/Aids: SA companies 'lead the way': Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - June 2, 2005; Based on a World Economic Forum (WEF) study of 1 552 African-based companies presented at the Africa Economic Summit in Cape Town on Thursday, South African companies appear to be leading the way in the response to HIV/Aids, with up to 91% having an HIV/Aids policy in place, the WEF said in a statement. But the study s
Facing the facts of life: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - June 1, 2005; Malena Amusa; The Dominican Convent in Belgravia, Johannesburg, embraces many of the values and traditions of the Catholic Church. But it also recognises that learners must face the facts of life head-on -- including sex and the real threat of HIV. The result is that the school takes a realistic approach to dealing with issues of se
Shepherd to a dying flock: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - May 16, 2005; Stefan Hippler**; It is noteworthy that at a time when many people have given up on the church and some aspects of its moral teaching, the death of John Paul II and the election of the new pope should have reignited the debate on the question of the Catholic Church and condoms. Journalists and people far removed from the church s teachi
Not in our name, say UN bodies: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - May 13, 2005; The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAids) have written to the Dr Rath Health Foundation demanding that it remove from its website all reference to their names within three weeks, or appropriate action will be taken. The Rath Foundation has repeatedly cited these org
Manto loves Rath: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - May 6, 2005; Rapule Tabane; Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has reopened the bitter debate about the efficiency of anti-retroviral drugs and defended the work of controversial vitamin therapist Dr Matthias Rath. Rath has questioned the safety of anti-retrovirals and recommended the use of vitamins and micronutrients to treat HIV-positive
Nourishing body and soul: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - May 4, 2005; Tholakele Buthelezi wasn t always so hopeful. Unemployed with two fatherless children and no parents to support her, she considered killing herself when she was diagnosed with HIV and tuberculosis last December. But after learning about the power of meditation from a Buddhist friend, the 34-year-old from Eshowe in KwaZ
An invidious form of Aids censorship: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - May 4, 2005; Pat Sidley**; The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) is taking legal action against what it sees as a charlatan flogging vitamins to people with Aids so that they can avoid taking anti-retroviral treatments which is said to be poisonous. That is what the TAC does, and should do, so well. But there is a trap in this case and it lies in
HIV/Aids barometer - April 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - April 27, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 62 306 772 at noon on Wednesday April 27, 2005 Privacy policy: The Vietnamese government has passed a decree to allow the punishment of people who discriminate against HIV-positive individuals in the country. This allows the government to fine anyone who, for example, publicises test
Battling the brutal stigma of HIV: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - April 25, 2005; Malena Amusa, Johannesburg, South Africa; The current lawsuit in the Johannesburg High Court by three HIV-positive women against Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille and journalist Charlene Smith is uncovering more than just issues of privacy. It is also highlighting South Africa s urgent need to normalise HIV in order to prevent a social backlash af
Don't confuse Aids debate -- MCC: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - April 22, 2005; Nawaal Deane; The Medicines Council Control (MCC) has defended itself against charges that it is failing to crack down on the Dr Rath Health Foundation s anti-Aids drug campaign, saying it does not want to further polarise the debate on Aids treatment and confuse patients. MCC registrar Humphrey Zokufa said the council s inspectors
HIV/Aids barometer - April 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - April 13, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 62 105 173 at noon on Wednesday April 13, 2005 Hope at hand: Former United States president Bill Clinton this week announced that the Clinton Foundation is pledging $10-million to provide treatment to about 10 000 children living with HIV/Aids in 10 countries. Speaking at a news
HIV/Aids barometer - April 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - April 6,2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 62 004 234 at noon on Wednesday, April 6, 2005 Free State fumbles: During the first open forum since the government announced the anti-retroviral (ARV) roll-out in November 2003, health workers, researchers and officials last week shared their experiences of the programme, writes Ker
Is childbirth an absolute right?: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - April 6,2005; Nicola Spurr**; About one-third of HIV-positive women will transmit the virus to their infants during pregnancy, if untreated. So, should HIV-positive women deliberately get pregnant? And if so, will they be held accountable if they pass the virus on to their children? If it s within your means to act and prevent something negative fr
UN condemns Rath's HIV/Aids advertisements: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - April 4, 2005; Lloyd Gedye; The United Nations last week condemned advertising campaigns by Dr Matthias Rath which portray anti-retroviral therapy as toxic and promote vitamin therapy as an alternative. In a statement released last week, the World Health Organisaton (WHO), the UN Children s Fund (Unicef) and the joint United Nations Programme on
'One teacher lost every two hours': Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - April 1, 2005; More than half the country s teachers intend leaving the profession. And as low morale, job dissatisfaction, HIV/Aids and premature mortality devastate public schools, the number of teachers has declined over the past seven years. By 2002/03, 21 000 teachers (about 6%) were leaving the system annually. The Education La
HIV/AIDS Barometer - March 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - March 30, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 61 903 615 at noon on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 Not so safe: Uganda , considered a beacon in Africa for its Aids-beating policies, is adopting sexual abstinence-only programmes financed by the United States that could undo its successes. Human Rights Watch warns that the new poli
Zim health down the tubes: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - March 25, 2005; Maggots are squirming from the old man s foot, but he is just laughing at the ceiling. The latest patient to enter one of Bulawayo s main hospitals has suspected beri-beri, a disease caused by vitamin deficiency. He is also mentally ill, and seems undisturbed at the prospect of having his foot amputated due to the gang
Mbeki dismisses Rath: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - March 25, 2005; A prominent Aids dissident has attempted to use President Thabo Mbeki s perceived ambivalence around HIV/Aids treatment to further the aims of the Rath Foundation, which promotes vitamins as an alternative to anti-retroviral (ARVs) drugs. But the presidency dismisses out-of-hand claims by Anthony Brink that Mbeki insti
Zimbabwe's forgotten children: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - March 17, 2005; As the world focuses on the upcoming Zimbabwean elections, the United Nations Children s Fund (Unicef) on Thursday released startling new statistics that call for politicians and donors to defend children as rigorously as they defend democracy. Despite the world s fourth highest rate of HIV/Aids and the highest rise in
HIV/AIDS Barometer - March 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - March 16, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 61 702 019 at noon on Wednesday March 16, 2005 On Thursday the European Commission pledged 15-million euros (R121-million) to Zimbabwe and 12-million euros (R97-million) to Colombia . In Zimbabwe, the new funds will aid displaced persons, those with HIV
Vitriolic Dr Rath attacks TAC: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - March 15, 2005; Marianne Merten and Nawaal Deane; Controversial vitamin therapist Matthias Rath has blitzed Cape Town townships with pamphlets and posters attacking the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) as a spreader of disease and death among our people and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) as helping to protect drug industry monopolies . It emerged this week t
'All of Africa not collapsing under weight of Aids': Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - March 9, 2005; Christina Scott**; There is no single Aids epidemic in Africa, says Hein Marais, until recently the chief writer for the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAids). There are many. And reasons for these different patterns may range far from medical territory into the realms of economics and history. The South African author and
Hiv/Aids barometer - March 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - March 2, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 61 500 392 at noon on Wednesday March 2, 2005 Soaring costs: Namibia is feeling the pinch of providing treatment to civil servants living with HIV/Aids. Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said the annual cost of the Public Service Employees Medical Aid Scheme had risen by m
The deadly business of husband-hunting: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - March 2, 2005; Christina Scott**; Could husband-hunting be a deadly business for South Africa s young women? Jeremy Magruder, a young American economist at the University of Cape Town s Centre for Social Science Research, thinks so. Registered deaths among women in South Africa peak quite sharply from ages 25 to 35, says Magdruder, who is completing hi
My life on ARVs is good: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - February 25, 2005; I am 34 years old now, but eight years ago I thought I was going to die. I sell vegetables in Site C, Khayelitsha, where I make almost R1 000 per month and I would not be able to do this if I was not on ARVs [anti-retrovirals]. Before I started taking ARVs, it was difficult to sell vegetables - my body was tired, it wa
Health budget under the weather: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - February 25, 2005; The Treasury should not be congratulated on its R48-billion allocation to health because the R8-billion increase has not kept up with inflation or with the increase in health practitioners salaries, say health analysts. On the surface, the Budget allocation for health focuses on building hospitals, clinics and human re
Safe sex sucks: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - February 22, 2005; Mark Weston**; In the fight against Aids in Africa, the focus of attention is shifting from prevention to treatment. Having lost the battle to contain the virus, governments are turning to anti-retroviral therapy (ART) to limit the damage it causes. ART drugs are a remarkable medical success. If taken properly, they add at least 10 y
HIV/Aids barometer - February 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - February 16, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 61 298 797 at noon on Wednesday February 16, 2005 A new strain of HIV resistant to three of the four classes of anti-retroviral drugs available has been identified in New York, according to city health officials. Of particular concern was the rapidity at which the strain progressed t
Abstraction from power confers power: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - February 15, 2005; I speak to you not as an academic, but as a judge who holds public office as a member of the third arm of the government which during the United States constitutional drafting process Thomas Jefferson famously described as the least dangerous branch of government . Yet, even though I speak as a relative outsider, many
Will SABC screen doccie?: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - February 11, 2005; The SABC s independence will be tested by a TV documentary directed by Aids activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Zackie Achmat, which is highly critical of the government. The documentary, entitled Law and Freedom, is scheduled to be aired in two parts over the next two weeks on SABC 1, starting next Monday. It uses
Manto's man to head MCC: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - February 11, 2005; The appointment of a top Department of Health official as acting registrar of the Medicines Control Council (MCC) has raised alarm about a potential conflict of interest. Humphrey Zokufa, a chief director whose tasks included the implementation of the new medicine pricing regulations, has been named temporarily to fill
Opposition welcomes Mbeki's speech: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - February 11, 2005; Official opposition leader Tony Leon reacted warmly to Friday s State of the Nation speech by President Thabo Mbeki, saying it was more inclusive than some of the recent utterances from the president . Speaking outside Parliament after the speech, Leon said the overall tone and the focus on building the economy were to
HIV/Aids barometer - February 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - February 9, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 61 198 024 at noon on Wednesday February 9, 2005 Sex Ed 101: From next year students in Bangladesh will be given lessons about HIV/Aids issues for the first time. The decision to introduce life skills and HIV/Aids education in secondary schools was taken because the number of Aids ca
HIV/Aids barometer - February 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - February 2, 2005; Estimated worldwide infections: 61 097 256 at noon on Wednesday, February 2, 2005 Speaking out: Former British culture minister Chris Smith, who 20 years ago came out as Britain s first openly gay member of Parliament, announced this week that he has been HIV-positive for 17 years. Smith said he was impelled to reveal
Big hit or big miss?: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - January 28, 2005; Aids activists have removed some of the glitter from the first Oscar-nomination for a South African feature film, complaining that the movie lacks nuance, is sentimental and comes 10 years too late . In what has been hailed as a major coup for the local film industry, the Darrell Roodt film, Yesterday, was nominated fo
Truth will set us free: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - January 25, 2005; Zackie Achmat; The announcement by the Mandela family that Makgatho Mandela had Aids provides an opportunity for public discussion on openness and stigma. When I first learnt of HIV/Aids in the 1980s I imagined that it was a conspiracy. A sexually transmitted virus that disproportionately infected gay men, sex workers and black peopl
HIV/Aids barometer - January 2005: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - January 19, 2005; Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 60 895 616 at noon on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 Quick fix: Wealthy nations must fulfil their pledges to increase aid to developing countries to meet the United Nations millennium development goals - including curbing the spread of HIV - within the next decade, according to a report
loveLife gets attitude: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - January 18, 2005; The new loveLife campaign for 2005 was launched last week. It is again a message that is hard to understand; another campaign that will provoke debate and discussion. Is this controversy a waste of money or is it the secret to loveLife s success? The Mail & Guardian Online talks to Refilwe Africa, the editor of lov
Sex in the age of Aids: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - January 3, 2005; I am chatting on the phone with a friend. I tell him I have met this cool man from Cape Verde . Tsk tsk tsk, he goes. There you go, joining the multiple-partner risk-group for Aids. Thank you, Dr Killjoy, say I. On political grounds, I refuse to toe the line of the American religious right and George W Bush. The person

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