A colleague of mine was recently on hold at one of South Africa’s largest cell phone providers, Vodaworld (for an inordinate amount of time), and Shaggy’s “A little bit of [one girl] in my life, a little bit [another girl] on the side, a little bit of [yet another girl] is all I need,” etc, […]
Recently there has been a significant amount of debate around the benefits of male circumcision. Its combative role in the struggle against the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been proven by considerable factual evidence .
Various studies have shown that it reduces a man’s risk of contracting HIV by over 50%, and shows substantial evidence that the […]
The Constitutional Court ’s ruling in the case of NM and others versus Smith and others has aroused a significant amount of debate. Jonny Steinberg, in his Business Day column entitled “ Generous judgment instils stigma ” argues that the judgment was not backed up by valid legal argument. In reply, Mark […]
In a South Africa rife with social problems, it is refreshing to see an organisation taking a firm stand and speaking out. But when their voice is hushed by an anonymous chain of priggish bureaucracy, one has to question whether the establishment actually does have the public’s best interests at heart.
The […]
The argument about whether or not multivitamins are as effective as antiretroviral treatment in treating HIV/AIDS-related illness is poised to rear its controversial head once again despite the fact it’s most ardent advocator, Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, has almost disappeared from public life.
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) claims the […]
The Sunday Times’ Each One Reach Five campaign is a bold and ambitious approach to the fight against HIV/AIDS. The newspaper has asked that every person reading the stories that appeared on the issue of 15 April 2007 do an HIV test and get five people to do the same. The campaign […]
In a country where a child is raped every 24 minutes and one is molested every eight minutes, and where 40 percent of all reported rapes are of children, as the Citizen reported this week, it is vital to not only cover this issue substantially, but also effectively and sensitively.
Perhaps a […]
I read the story about Patricia de Lille having to pay damages for invasion of privacy to three women who feature in her authorised biography, Patricia de Lille, and whose HIV-positive status she reveals, with an interesting mixture of happiness and worry. I was happy that the Constitutional Court had ruled in […]
Unlike many others, this week has been filled with news on HIV and AIDS. A long awaited breakthrough finally came in insurance claims on AIDS-related deaths. The Treatment Action Campaign’s (TAC) Zackie Achmat announced his intention to discontinue being the TAC’s chairperson and Minister of Correctional Services Ngconde Balfour has broken […]
Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang is facing an extended recovery period that will render her unable to return to work for a full six months, her doctors have said. This is a best-case scenario, if the minister doesn’t suffer any relapses or develop other illness (as she reportedly developed hepatitis while […]