SOUTH AFRICA: HIV patients go missing before treatment
18 February 2011 (PlusNews ), A study has found that about 55 percent of HIV patients in South Africa who are not eligible for treatment at the time of diagnosis will disappear from clinics within a year of initial monitoring, leaving a serious gap in HIV care and prevention, say researchers.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91965
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SOUTH AFRICA: No ARVs in 'whoonga', say experts
10 February 2011 (PlusNews ), Media in South Africa recently erupted into a frenzy of coverage of an allegedly new illegal drug, 'whoonga', said to contain life-prolonging antiretrovirals (ARVs), but experts say the drug is actually an old foe, heroin, and does not include ARVs.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91880
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AFRICA: Need for systematic HIV drug resistance testing
8 February 2011 (PlusNews ), HIV is a tough enough diagnosis, but when one contracts a strain of HIV resistant to some life-prolonging medicines, treatment options are limited. A new study has found that transmitted HIV drug resistance may be on the rise in Africa, and the authors warn that unless resistance surveillance is increased, the continent's treatment programmes could suffer.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91866
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SOUTH AFRICA: HIV testing in schools is a minefield
7 February 2011 (PlusNews ), South Africa is preparing to take HIV testing into the classroom as part of its national voluntary HIV testing and counselling campaign, but testing kids is controversial and implementing the programme is fraught with challenges – just ask those already doing it.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91850
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SOUTH AFRICA: HIV stalls progress on MDGs
3 January 2011 (PlusNews ), The HIV/AIDS epidemic is severely hampering South Africa’s ability to achieve several Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91514
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SOUTH AFRICA: New ARV tender halves drug prices
20 December 2010 (PlusNews ), South Africa’s newly announced tender for antiretrovirals (ARVs) has halved the price the government will pay for the life-saving drugs; however, fixed dose combinations, which would decrease the pill burden, are still largely absent from the deal.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91406
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SOUTH AFRICA: Nurses step into ART breach
15 December 2010 (PlusNews ), At Malvern Clinic, a primary healthcare facility serving an impoverished suburb east of Johannesburg’s city centre, every seat was taken on a recent Monday morning.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91383
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SOUTH AFRICA: Sihle Motha, "You have this person's life in your hands"
15 December 2010 (PlusNews ), Sihle Motha, a nurse at Malvern Clinic, in Johannesburg, is among the first to have been trained in the management and initiation of patients on antiretroviral (ARV) treatment. She will soon be joined by thousands more as the government rolls out nurse-initiated ARV treatment at primary healthcare clinics across South Africa.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91382
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SOUTH AFRICA: HIV prevention drugs raise more questions than answers
29 November 2010 (PlusNews ), Recent studies have shown that antiretroviral [ARV] drugs can reduce the risk of HIV-infection but for researchers and governments - the research raises more questions than answers about its implementation.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91224
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SOUTH AFRICA: MSM left out of media, prevention programmes
26 November 2010 (PlusNews ), Men who have sex with men (MSM) do not make headlines in South African media and HIV experts have warned that a lack of accurate coverage prevents targeted HIV prevention and care for these men.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91198
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HIV/AIDS: MSM groups hail pill to prevent HIV
24 November 2010 (PlusNews ), Gay rights groups have hailed the results of the first study to show that an antiretroviral (ARV) drug can prevent HIV as an important step in the fight against HIV, but say that in countries that criminalize homosexuality, the breakthrough is unlikely to have a significant impact.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91180
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SOUTH AFRICA: HIV prevalence among farm workers hits 40 percent
23 November 2010 (PlusNews ), The HIV prevalence rate among farm workers in South Africa is about 40 percent, the highest ever recorded in southern Africa, according to a new study.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91169
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SOUTHERN AFRICA: HIV prevention for youth - it's complicated
19 November 2010 (PlusNews ), When it comes to understanding what drives HIV infections among young people in southern Africa, the epicentre of the global AIDS pandemic, why not ask young people themselves?
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91138
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SOUTH AFRICA: No change in HIV rate among pregnant women
12 November 2010 (PlusNews ), About 29 percent of South African pregnant women were living with HIV in 2009 - a figure that has barely shifted over the past four years, despite increased levels of commitment from the country’s health department and numerous prevention campaigns.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91083
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SOUTH AFRICA: Preventative TB therapy halves risk of death among ARV patients
11 November 2010 (PlusNews ), Preventative tuberculosis (TB) therapy can reduce death among patients on antiretroviral (ARV) treatment by about half, according to new research from South Africa.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91055
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SOUTHERN AFRICA: No sex for a month to prevent HIV
9 November 2010 (PlusNews ), An aggressive national campaign to persuade people to abstain from sex or commit to 100 percent condom use for a month could make a significant contribution to HIV prevention efforts, says a leading HIV expert.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91037
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SOUTH AFRICA: The difference AIDS makes to vulnerable children
5 November 2010 (PlusNews ), New South African research shows that AIDS-affected children struggle with educational and mental health issues more than their peers, who are vulnerable for other reasons.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=90988
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SOUTH AFRICA: ART patients defy risky sex expectations, says study
3 November 2010 (PlusNews ), Fears that antiretroviral therapy might lead healthier-feeling HIV-positive people to have more sex and potentially infect others may be unfounded, according to a new South African study, which recorded patients having significantly less sex as well as safer sex after starting treatment.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=90964
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SOUTH AFRICA: Hospitals failing to treat HIV-positive infants
2 November 2010 (PlusNews ), KwaZulu-Natal Province remains the epicentre of South Africa’s HIV epidemic but new research reveals that nearly a third of hospitals surveyed had not started a single HIV-positive infant on antiretroviral treatment in several years.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=90954
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SOUTH AFRICA: Clowning around boosts HIV-positive children
29 October 2010 (PlusNews ), Shrieks of laughter echo through the community centre in the Cape Town township of Khayelitsha as 20 children aged between four and 15 play a game of tag.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=90922
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