| ZIMBABWE: Lessons in HIV prevention |
![]() JOHANNESBURG, 11 February 2011 (PlusNews) - African countries struggling to contain HIV epidemics can learn a thing or two about HIV prevention from Zimbabwe, say the authors of a new study which found that a reduction in sexual partners drove a decrease in new HIV infections there.
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| SOUTH AFRICA: No ARVs in 'whoonga', say experts |
![]() JOHANNESBURG, 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.
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| AFRICA: Need for systematic HIV drug resistance testing |
![]() NAIROBI, 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.
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| SOUTH AFRICA: HIV testing in schools is a minefield |
![]() JOHANNESBURG, 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.
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| ZAMBIA: How to build a lab in a shipping container |
![]() LUSAKA, 1 February 2011 (PlusNews) - A tiny laboratory capable of doing big things is what Barry Kosloff, working with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine, has created - a new type of high-tech, low-cost, tuberculosis (TB) lab in a shipping container. He walked IRIN/PlusNews through what it takes to build one.
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| ZAMBIA: Better health comes in containers |
![]() LUSAKA, 26 January 2011 (PlusNews) - New technologies are helping Zambia make the most of its scarce health workers and laboratories in the fight against tuberculosis (TB), and showing that there may be more to a container than meets the eye.
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| MALAWI: Better paediatric HIV services reduce infections |
![]() BLANTYRE, 20 January 2011 (PlusNews) - More mothers and pregnant women in Malawi are attending antenatal clinics since the increased training of health workers in paediatric HIV care improved services to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV, and paediatric HIV testing and treatment.
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| ZAMBIA: Don’t ignore the children of sex workers |
![]() LUSAKA, 10 January 2011 (PlusNews) - At an increased risk of HIV and often unable to negotiate safe sex with clients, sex workers have been a major focus in HIV prevention and treatment. However, away from the streets and brothels, their children have been largely ignored.
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| SOUTH AFRICA: HIV stalls progress on MDGs |
![]() JOHANNESBURG, 3 January 2011 (PlusNews) - The HIV/AIDS epidemic is severely hampering South Africa’s ability to achieve several Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
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| SOUTH AFRICA: New ARV tender halves drug prices |
![]() JOHANNESBURG, 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.
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