Media Watch
HIV coverage picks up
As another Monday rolls around HIV coverage can be described as thick and fast. City Press, The Star and the Sunday Times are among those publications providing us with a smorgasbord of HIV-related articles.
Gauteng health’s cash flow woes
Today The Times reports that the Gauteng health department has failed to reach important goals and targets because of ‘self-induced’ cash flow problems.
The department’s annual report reveals that among the goals which the department has failed to reach is the implementation of a workplace HIV education drive.
AIDS a factor in slowing of population growth
Reports that population growth is slowing and that AIDS-related deaths remain a contributing factor illustrates that there are still HIV-related challenges that need to be addressed.
Art has been proven to dramatically increase the number of healthy and productive years that an HIV-positive person can live.
SA’s approach to ‘underage’ sex is two-faced
Today the Mail and Guardian’s Mia Malan gets to grips with the struggle on how to address teen pregnancy, which sees conservatives and human rights approach activists at loggerheads.
Malan explores the rift between the two parties, who advocate different means of addressing the twin troubles of soaring teen pregnancy rates and HIV infection.
The article has quotes from those who believe that sex education and life skills programmes should be strengthened in schools and that condoms should be made available.
However conservative elements located in the health and education departments fear that these measures would encourage youngsters to have sex. They are reportedly sticking to their ‘abstain’ or ‘be faithful’ guns as the best way to prevent unwanted pregnancy and HIV.
New focus on non-communicable diseases
Following on news that world leaders are meeting in New York this week to co-ordinate a response to non-communicable diseases (which do not spread from person to person, or from animal/insect to human), a smattering of articles on the looming threat these conditions pose have appeared in the news media.
Many articles have cited statistics which claim that most of the deaths due to these ‘lifestyle diseases’ are concentrated in developing countries which up until now have been focused on addressing infectious diseases like, HIV and malaria.
