Health & Nutrition

What the world's largest preventative TB study taught us

JOHANNESBURG, 13 March 2012 (PlusNews Global) - Even though the world's largest study of preventative tuberculosis therapy indicated that community-wide isoniazid preventative TB therapy (IPT) failed to lower community TB levels among 27,000 South African gold miners, that was not Thibela’s only result. We review some of the others over its seven years: full report

SOUTH AFRICA: Preventative TB trial disappoints

JOHANNESBURG, 9 March 2012 (PlusNews Global) - After seven years of research, the world's largest study of preventative tuberculosis (TB) therapy has found that untargeted, community-wide distribution of TB prevention drugs did not improve TB control on South African gold mines. full report

HIV/AIDS: Hormonal contraception advice not reaching women

JOHANNESBURG, 1 March 2012 (PlusNews Global) - The World Health Organization (WHO) has advised women on injectable hormonal birth control to use condoms to prevent HIV infection in light of possible HIV risks associated with "the shot", but HIV organizations and activists say this has not been effectively communicated to women. full report

KENYA: XDR-TB case raises questions

NAIROBI, 28 February 2012 (PlusNews Global) - The Kenyan government's recent failure to adequately treat a patient with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) has some civil society organizations questioning whether the country's TB programme is equipped to diagnose and treat such patients. full report

SOUTH AFRICA: New reports chart progress - and costs - in HIV fight

JOHANNESBURG, 27 February 2012 (PlusNews Global) - Mothers, babies and newly diagnosed HIV patients are receiving more of the services they need but progress comes at a cost, according to a new report that predicts a funding shortfall for HIV treatment in South Africa. full report

TANZANIA: Good results in programme to boost TB detection

ARUSHA, 1 February 2012 (PlusNews Global) - A pilot community programme to improve TB detection in northern Tanzania has shown good results and could be replicated nationwide as the country seeks to improve its TB treatment and prevention systems. full report

ETHIOPIA: New PMTCT plan needs men

ADDIS ABABA, 4 January 2012 (PlusNews Global) - Ethiopia's new plan to eliminate mother-to-child HIV transmission by 2015 cannot be attained unless men are more meaningfully involved in reproductive health, experts say. full report

HIV/AIDS: Ten big stories in 2011

NAIROBI/JOHANNESBURG, 29 December 2011 (PlusNews Global) - It's been a roller coaster of a year in HIV and AIDS. AIDS turned 30 in 2011, and with new evidence of the effectiveness of HIV treatment as prevention, experts are increasingly talking about "the end of AIDS". At the same time, however, funding for HIV has become ever more uncertain, jeopardizing efforts to put new, life-saving science into action. full report

HEALTH: HIV and the risk of non-communicable diseases

NAIROBI, 22 December 2011 (PlusNews Global) - While antiretroviral drugs have significantly improved the life expectancy of people living with HIV, the virus - and often the ARVs themselves - can make people more susceptible to non-communicable diseases than the rest of the population. full report

UGANDA: Challenging plan to eliminate mother-to-child transmission

KAMPALA, 15 December 2011 (PlusNews Global) - A plan to virtually eradicate mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Uganda by 2015 by adopting a more cost-effective treatment regimen, beefing up health infrastructure and increasing women's access to family planning, comes with high expectations and significant challenges. full report
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