Media Watch
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Child mortality shock
Some 879 children under the age of five died in KZN hospitals in the first three months of this year. Statistics released by the department of health in the legislature yesterday showed that between January and March, Prince Mshiyeni Hospital in Umlazi had 57 infant mortalities, the highest in the province.Get with the programme
An article in the Daily Sun covering a school which allows teen moms to breastfeed during school time, misses out on the chance to help make the government’s new and controversial breastfeeding-only policy workable.
Last year August saw a scramble of media activity with thousands of ‘punny’ boob-based headlines sprinkled throughout the papers.
The occasion? Aaron Motsoaledi’s announcement that government would institute a breastfeeding-only policy; discontinuing the distribution of free formula to HIV-positive moms via public healthcare facilities.
The move has proved to be controversial, with various experts lamenting that if not paired properly with antiretroviral treatment, a breastfeeding-only strategy could in fact reverse the dramatic drop in mother to child transmission of HIV.
However a Daily Sun article on breastfeeding moms at an East London school, which appeared in Wednesday’s (9 May 2012) Daily Sun, seems oblivious to all this hullabaloo.
Maternal and infant mortality workshop
The province, in conjunction with the UN Population Fund, will this week host an educational workshop on maternal and infant mortality.IN THE NEWS: Fewer newborns getting HIV now
The HIV-infection rate among newborn babies tested in Gauteng has fallen by more than half. Provincial officials said at the weekend this was achieved by getting pregnant women to attend classes so complications could be spotted early and treated.IN THE NEWS: SA ‘winning war’ against HIV in babies
The rate of HIV infection in new born babies has fallen by more than half in Gauteng, the provincial department of health said yesterday. "The Gauteng department of health has reduced the number of infection in babies by more than half, from 11.6% to 2.3% through implementation of health services for pregnant women,"IN THE NEWS: Shuga’s sweet success
No city reveals its charm in the trip from the airport, but the driving is usually a sign of its character. Approaching a traffic circle, the drivers of Niarobi lean over their steering wheels with great alertness and move slowly into the first gap.ANALYSIS: Bonitas bungles breast is best
A Bonitas sponsored article in last week’s Mail&Guardian appears to give a round-up of the pros and cons that dominate debates on infant-feeding in South Africa, following big changes in government policy last year (including the withdrawal of free infant formula). But on closer examination its engagement with the issue is superficial at best.IN THE NEWS: Tackling infant mortality
The disturbing high infant mortality rate in SA is highlighted through awareness campaigns such as Pregnancy Week, held from February 12 to 18.IN THE NEWS: Health care’s looking well
Good progress has been made in increasing life expectancy in South Africa.ANALYSIS: Daily Sun glosses over HIV when it comes to MMC, PMTCT
Despite publishing articles on both pregnancy and medical male circumcision (MMC) in Monday’s Health News section the Daily Sun neglects to include complete and accurate HIV information for both topics.
Topping the Daily Sun’s ‘Sun Health’ section for the day was a large section on pregnancy composed of three articles. But in this case size isn’t all that matters because crucial information on HIV and pregnancy was either glossed over or left out completely.
Instead of conveying that an HIV test “might” be performed, the Daily Sun should have indicated that HIV testing in the early stages of pregnancy (and perhaps before pregnancy where possible) should be a-if not the-key component in the prenatal battery of tests in South Africa.
