IRIN Plusnews Service

Updated every day

SOUTH AFRICA: TB treatment programmes failing - (Found July 23, 2008 )

DURBAN, 4 July 2008 (PLUSNEWS) - TB cure rates in South Africa have remained stubbornly low about 60 percent nationally, but less than 50 percent in many districts. A number of studies presented at the national TB conference in Durban this week looked at some of the reasons why South Africa's programme is failing.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=79107

SOUTH AFRICA: New improved PMTCT brings challenges - (Found July 23, 2008 )

DURBAN, 11 July 2008 (PLUSNEWS) - Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital, just outside the port city of Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal Province, has one of South Africa's busiest maternity wards. About 1,200 women a month give birth here, of which about 40 percent are HIV-positive, according to figures from the antenatal clinic.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=79212

SOUTH AFRICA: WANTED - 4,000 doctors - (Found July 23, 2008 )

JOHANNESBURG, 14 July 2008 (PLUSNEWS) - With more South African doctors now working abroad than in the country's ailing public health sector, the government needs to start aggressively recruiting health workers from other countries, according to a non-profit recruitment organisation.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=79241

SWAZILAND: Siphiwe Hlope, "Today women are so courageous" - (Found July 23, 2008 )

MBABANE, 14 July 2008 (PLUSNEWS) - Siphiwe Hlope is a pioneer. She was one of the first Swazi women to publicly declare her HIV status, in 2001, at a time when stigma against people living with the virus was intense. She went on to form Swazis for Positive Living (SWAPOL) to advocate awareness and the rights of HIV-positive people in a country with an adult HIV-prevalence rate of 26 percent, the world's highest.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=79249

SOUTH AFRICA: "Is there a virus in the house" - (Found July 23, 2008 )

JOHANNESBURG, 15 July 2008 (PLUSNEWS) - Hidden behind the high walls that surround most middle-class suburban homes in South Africa is one of the largest and most marginalised black, female workforces in the country.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=79265

SOUTH AFRICA: Bev White: "They have looked after us and it's our duty to look after them" - (Found July 23, 2008 )

JOHANNESBURG, 15 July 2008 (PLUSNEWS) - Bev White, a business owner and mother of one, started a support group called Living Positively at Home for employers of HIV-positive domestic workers after her child's nanny, Thandi, was diagnosed positive three years ago. She talked to IRINPlusNews about her experiences.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=79266

KENYA: There's no substitute for support when taking ARVs - (Found July 23, 2008 )

MERU, 16 July 2008 (PLUSNEWS) - "We people living with HIV must eat well, must keep off stress - it is not good for you ... if you can, please walk out on anything annoying and go and watch Vitimbi a popular TV sitcom or sing your favourite song ... be happy and positive."
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=79287

INDONESIA: Trying to solve ARV supply woes - (Found July 23, 2008 )

JAKARTA, 16 July 2008 (PLUSNEWS) - From the day Lenny (not her real name) was diagnosed HIV positive, she opted to get her life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) drugs from overseas - a vote of no-confidence in Indonesia's sclerotic supply system. "I heard from my friends that hospitals often ran out of ARVs, so I became paranoid," she said.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=79288

MOZAMBIQUE: Tourism, beaches and sex - a recipe for HIV - (Found July 23, 2008 )

BEIRA, 22 July 2008 (PLUSNEWS) - With its white sand, sunny blue skies and cashew nut trees, Miramar Beach in the port city of Beira, Mozambique, has all the right ingredients to draw tourists from all over the world.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=79376

GLOBAL: US lifts travel ban on HIV-positive people - (Found July 23, 2008 )

JOHANNESBURG, 21 July 2008 (PLUSNEWS) - A move by the United States Senate to repeal legislation prohibiting HIV-positive visitors and immigrants has been hailed as an important step in the fight against stigma and discrimination.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=79361