Media Watch
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Fund to fight disease open for business again
The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria estimates that more than $1.6 billion (R12.7 bn) in additional funding will be available in the next two years.Health Department to spend five times more on research
The Health Department will spend 2 percent of the national health budget to fund research within the next three years.The ‘what’ is no good without the ‘why’
Instead of simply regurgitating stats and facts without contextualising or explaining them, a health-e article published in The Star (26 April 2012) explains the reasons why there are more women in ART programmes than men.
The subject of the article is a study that found that ART uptake increased from 47, 500 to 1.79 million between 2004 and 2011. One-third of all HIV-positive South Africans are currently accessing HIV treatment.
Of particular interest, however, are the differences in ART uptake between men and women.
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.
‘Joburg is where I belong’
Big bad Jozi has a reputation that precedes itself, but accidental Joburgers with tenderness for the unexpected find the city can be an ol' softie too. When newcomer from New Zealand Karen Lim heard her husband's next company posting would have them living in Joburg, it left her with nightmares and sleepless nights.IN THE NEWS: Drug offers hope to victims of XDR TB
A promising new drug now on trial offers the last hope for some patients with extreme drug resistant (XDR) tuberculosis, and the life or death decision on whether to make it available rests with the Medicines Control Council (MCC).IN THE NEWS: Parents’ anguish after surgery left boy with HIV
They have undergone several HIV tests, And every time, the test results came back negative. However, their nine-year-old son is on antiretroviral treatment, having tested positive when he was just seven months old.IN THE NEWS: Crime is not having HIV but giving it to someone else
Siphiwe Maloyi and his wife Vuyo had been married for only a short while when he filed for divorce after his wife revealed that she was HIV-positive - something she had known for years. Siphiwe alleged his wife concealed her status until after they were married.IN THE NEWS: Childhood tuberculosis: the hidden epidemic
The little girl squirms and tries to break free from the adults pinning her down, her terrified eyes as wide as saucers and her screams muffled by the tube they are trying to thread down her throat.ANALYSIS: Size matters when it comes to health reporting
The Star’s pared down version of an originally very comprehensive article by health-e on the findings of the Thibela TB study is an indicator of the media’s tendency to deprioritise issues germane to the health of South Africans.
The original article, written by Anso Thom of health-e news, explained the ins, outs and details of the study which explored the efficacy of blanket Isoniazid Preventative Therapy (IPT) to reduce TB incidence on the mines.
