insert_link Health / Medical Thirty years of rural health research: South Africa’s Agincourt studies offer unique insights By Stephen Tollman, University of the Witwatersrand and Kathleen Kahn, University of the Witwatersrand In 1992 a group of academics from the University of the Witwatersrand introduced a health and socio-demographic surveillance system in remote, rural South Africa to track and understand health and wellbeing in these environments. This initiative built on pioneering work by a Wits team to establish a health systems development unit in a […] todayFebruary 6, 2024 32
insert_link Health / Medical Surge in Syphilis Cases Leads Some Providers to Ration Penicillin Vials of injectable penicillin in cold storage at the Metro Public Health Department in Nashville, Tennessee. Injectable penicillin is the go-to treatment for syphilis and the only treatment considered safe for pregnant people with the disease. In mid-2023, the health department began rationing the injectable to just pregnant women because of a nationwide antibiotic shortage. Patients who test positive for syphilis and are not pregnant are given an oral antibiotic […] todayFebruary 2, 2024 12
insert_link Health / Medical HIV, AIDS, and COVID-19 leading causes of death in working-age population A new report from the Namibia Statistics Agency shows that HIV and AIDS, COVID-19, and other communicable diseases remain the leading causes of death among the economically active population in the country. In 2020 alone, HIV and AIDS accounted for 13.5% of deaths among adults aged 15-59, while COVID-19 became the leading cause of death in 2021, accounting for 15.1% of fatalities in this age group. todayDecember 6, 2023 11
insert_link Namibia ELCIN empowers infohut project The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) through its infohut project has handed over chickens to five young people living with HIV/AIDS to help them start poultry farming businesses. ELCIN’s eastern diocese youth leader Esther Sakaria at the handing over ceremony in Oniipa on Sunday said through the infohut project, they engage and equip young people and church leaders in life skills through the use of computers. She said they […] todayDecember 5, 2023 15
insert_link South Africa South Africans are living longer, mostly thanks to HIV treatment By Daniel Steyn and Nathan Geffen via GroundUp President Nelson Mandela in 2002 wore the Treatment Action Campaign’s iconic HIV-positive T-shirt to try to convince President Thabo Mbeki’s administration to provide antiretroviral treatment in the public sector. Photo: Brenton Geach (copyright reserved) South Africa has some state-run systems that are working well. One of these is the HIV treatment programme. We quite possibly have the largest public sector chronic medicine programme for a […] todayDecember 1, 2023 11
insert_link Health / Medical Ahead of World AIDS Day UNAIDS is calling for urgent support to Let Communities Lead in the fight to end AIDS As World AIDS Day (1 December) approaches, UNAIDS is urging governments across the world to unleash the power of grassroots communities across the world to lead the fight to end AIDS. A new report launched today by UNAIDS, Let Communities Lead, shows that AIDS can be ended as a public health threat by 2030, but only if communities on the frontlines get the full support they need from governments and donors. […] todayNovember 28, 2023 8