Media Watch
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Koyo battles cancer pain
Things keep getting worse for 3Sum member Koyo Bala. Now, the colourful gay singer-turned stylist has just found out that he has a serious medical problem. Last year, Koyo disclosed that he is HIV-positive. He lost his mum to a stroke a few months later.Sticks and stones
Skinnymalinks! that's just one of the many names they used to call me, those little brats,. What a mean place the primary school playground can be. I had long forgotten that crippling fear of being teased, but two weeks ago I had a rather mean reminder of how it all felt.New WHO guidelines good news for couples
An article in Monday’s (23 April 2012) edition of The Star updates readers on the latest developments on the HIV-testing, prevention and treatment front.
The article details the World Health Organisation’s latest HIV-testing and treatment guidelines, which advise that HIV-positive people in relationships with HIV-negative partners (serodiscordant partnerships) should be offered treatment as soon as possible regardless of their CD4 count.
Current South African treatment guidelines recommend that all HIV-positive South Africans be initiated on ART when their CD4 count drops below 350.
DRUM ‘out and proud’ and addressing HIV
By publishing stories that highlight acceptance of homosexuality and same sex sexual practices, DRUM inadvertently gives HIV-prevention and treatment among men who have sex with men (MSM) a leg-up.
This week DRUM magazine published a feature story on local gay choreographer Somizi Mhlongo, emphasising his mother’s acceptance and support of his sexual preference.
Stories like this could go a long way towards educating a public that still has ‘outbreaks’ of sometimes-violent homophobia, as exemplified by the 2006 murder of Zoliswa Nkonyana, whose killers were sentenced this week.
HIV prevention and care for MSM still on lockdown
The New Age (TNA) reports that visiting Limpopo health and social development MEC Dikiledi Magadzi has encouraged inmates at Polokwane correctional facilities to know their health status by screening for conditions like HIV and TB. Whether or not health services being offered at prisons will include HIV messaging and care specifically targeted at men who have sex with men (MSM) remains uncertain.
Although MSM have been recognised by the South African government as a group made especially vulnerable to HIV through stigma and a lack of prevention and care that addresses their unique needs, MSM targeted HIV prevention and care is not yet common practice in SA prisons.
MSM include gay men but also those men who identify as straight but engage in same sex sexual practices.
Commonwealth’s common knowledge
According to an article in The New Age (TNA) the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Perth, Australia will challenge old homophobic laws still present in many commonwealth countries.Set the record straight on hate
A SAPA syndicated article on the Zimbabwean government’s refusal to make condoms available to prisoners makes no effort whatsoever to debunk the HIV-related myths and misinformation spilling from the mouth of an overly quoted official.
The poorly constructed article is built almost entirely out of homophobic and ignorant quotes from one deputy commissioner Agrey Machingauta, which the article makes no attempt to correct.
According to the SAPA piece, Zimbabwean officials are refusing to make condoms accessible to prisoners despite their status as a group with a very high risk of HIV infection. Condom distribution to prisoners would be illegal, given the country’s stance on homosexuality.
TNA ticks all the boxes
A featured article in The New Age (TNA) uncovers the SA prisons system’s secret scourge. Choruses of assenting and dissenting voices, broaching all aspects of the matter allow for an informative and balanced article.
The article opens by recounting one young man witnessing the rape of another in a Durban prison. This ‘hook’ not only draws the reader in through holding off on the hard facts but humanises the prisoner, successfully bringing a society’s cast offs into the public consciousness as living breathing human beings who are capable of pity and fear.
Through the narrative device the article clearly communicates that male rape is wrong because it represents the violation of a living, breathing and feeling human being. But in providing the context of HIV, the writer shows that sexual assault in prisons gains an added dimension as a deadly biological threat which extends beyond prison walls.
Prevention in the prison petri dish
The New Age (TNA) has reported that Leeuwkop prison now has a clinic, which provides HIV counseling and testing, antiretroviral treatment (ARV) and monitoring, as well as other primary healthcare services.
Previously prisoners had to travel long distances to access these services and collect their treatment. Given that HIV prevalence among South Africa’s prison population is standing at roughly 40%, the prospect of more readily available treatment certainly is good news.
But as the adage goes, prevention is always better than cure – a truism the prison system might be overlooking.
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