Benedict Nhlapho

16.05.2013

JOHANNESBURG — The 2008 violent xenophobic attacks that took place in South Africa were a traumatic experience many foreign nationals will not want to remember.

Sixty people were killed and tens of thousands displaced during the attacks that were largely directed at foreign nationals from other African countries.

PHILIPPI, 14 May 2013 (IRIN) - This week marks five years since tensions between foreigners and South Africans living in impoverished communities across the country erupted in xenophobic violence, leaving more than 60 people dead and tens of thousands displaced, their homes and businesses robbed and abandoned [ http://www.irinnews.org/Report/78386/SOUTH-AFRICA-Xenophobic-attacks-spr... ].

By Melany Bendix

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, May 6 2013 (IPS) - “If I don’t have my pills, I don’t know what will happen. I will probably get sick again, very sick. Maybe I will die this time,” says Xoliswa Mbana* as she readies her four young children for school in the impoverished informal settlement of Masiphumelele, in Cape Town, South Africa.

Two years ago Mbana, who was diagnosed HIV-positive in 2008, had a CD4 count of less than 200. Dangerously ill, she was convinced by nurses at her local clinic to begin antiretroviral (ARV) treatment.

JOHANNESBURG, 19 April 2013 (IRIN) - Just days into the rollout of fixed-dose combination (FDC) antiretrovirals (ARVs) by South Africa's HIV treatment programme - the world's largest - activists are raising fears of drug shortages.

Patients on the triple-therapy regimen will be able to take just one pill daily to control the virus. This has the advantages of improving adherence, simplifying regimens so that prescribing errors are reduced, and enabling the introduction of community models of care.

BILL GATES
April 10, 2013

Experts have long recognized that there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to HIV services.

The features of the global HIV epidemic vary by country, often by community and patient, and it’s important to understand these distinctions so that we can design programs to meet people’s needs and strengthen their access to treatment and prevention.

by Stephen Dale

More than 200 global health researchers gathered in Ottawa to discuss research results from the 7-year Teasdale-Corti Global Health Research Partnership. Canadian and South African researchers reported on the factors that make it difficult for poor people to take advantage of publicly funded health care.

JOHANNESBURG, 25 March 2013 (IRIN) - South Africa's gold mines are estimated to have the highest number of new tuberculosis (TB) cases in the world, making the disease a leading export to neighbouring countries. IRIN takes a look at the declaration meant to change this situation.

In August 2012, heads of state from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) agreed to sign the SADC Declaration on TB in the Mining Sector, following endorsements by their national ministers for health, labour and justice.

Kim Lewis

Last updated on: March 20, 2013 11:03 AM

Health ministers from Swaziland and South Africa have agreed to radically change the diagnosis and treatment of the co-epidemic of TB/HIV in their countries. They made their comments at a press conference held on March 20 in Johannesburg. Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF, said TB deaths in southern Africa account for 40 percent of all TB deaths globally, and it remains the leading cause of death for people with HIV.

Cape Town - In his first official visit to South Africa as Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Mark Dybul met with President of South Africa Jacob Zuma to discuss advancing the fight against these infectious diseases in the country.

Under President Zuma's leadership, South Africa has made significant gains in the fight against HIV and AIDS and tuberculosis as demonstrated in the country's efforts to boost domestic financing of programs that seek to defeat these diseases.