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Antiretroviral Therapy

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UNAids executive director Winnie Byanyima. Image: UNAids on X
95 95 95 TARGETS

Decriminalization – a prerequisite to ending Aids and TB

The same structural failures that sustain the HIV epidemic also sustain tuberculosis

  • Alankar Malviya
7 min read
After being diagnosed with HIV at 33, retired Constitutional Court justice Edwin Cameron never thought he’d make it to 40. He’s now 73 and part of a generation that is growing older thanks to antiretrovirals and, he says, the activism that made sure it was available in South Africa. Photo: Stefan Els
AIDS
Video

HIV made him expect to die at 40. At 73, Edwin Cameron asks: Who’s planning for our ageing survivors?

At 33, the retired Constitutional Court justice thought he had, maybe, seven years left. His story traces the arc from certain death because of Aids to a chronic, manageable…

  • Tanya Pampalone
  • Mia Malan
14 min read
How can data help the health department make the most of the R622 million extra it received for South Africa’s HIV treatment programme? (Flickr)
95 95 95 UN TARGETS

Most people on ARVs stay on them. Does our health system know that?

The health department has R622 million extra to prop up South Africa’s HIV treatment programme in the wake of foreign aid cuts, but it’s only about a fifth of the total gap

  • Linda Pretorius
  • Jacques Verryn
9 min read
PRETTY FLY FOR A WHITE GUY: Francois Venter is a big rock climber who once drank tequila with the virologist rockstar Dexter Holland of The Offspring. He’s also one of the country’s leading HIV researchers. (Delywn Verasamy)
AIDS DENIALISM

HIV research: Professor screw it, let’s do it

Francois Venter talks about his unorthodox inaugural lecture, his work during the Aids crisis and his shoot-from-the-hip fix of our healthcare system

  • Sean Christie
17 min read
How close is South Africa to meeting its HIV treatment goals? We look at the numbers. (NIAID/Wikimedia)
AARON MOTSOALEDI

Motsoaledi’s big HIV treatment jump: Is it true?

Last month, the health minister said more than half a million previously diagnosed people with HIV have been started on treatment since the end of February

  • Linda Pretorius
  • Jacques Verryn
8 min read
The impact of the Trump administration’s slashing of over half of South Africa’s HIV and TB projects funded by the US government, transcends reduced access to HIV testing and HIV prevention and treatment drugs. Treatment for diabetes, high blood pressure, cervical cancer, depression and anxiety will become harder to come by too. (Flickr)
ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY

Trump’s HIV funding cuts will also hit diabetes, cervical cancer and depression hard

As government clinics take on HIV patients who were previously treated by Pepfar-funded projects, the treatment of conditions like diabetes and heart disease will come under…

  • Zano Kunene
10 min read
African health systems have long been undermined by debt and political neglect.
ABUJA DECLARATION

The cost of neglect: Debt’s toll on African health systems

The US withdrawal will reveal the underlying truth: African health systems have long been undermined by debt and political neglect.

  • Tian Johnson
6 min read
South African scientists have released the findings of the first HIV cure trial in Africa with promising results showing viral suppression in 20% of women who stopped taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) after 18 months
AFRICAN HIV RESEARCH

SA scientists release promising HIV cure trial results

The study found 20% of women who took a drug intervention that included antibodies remained virally suppressed without antiretroviral therapy after 18 months.

  • Lyse Comins
5 min read
GAME ON: At the Eersterust Community Health Centre in Pretoria, masks are part of a game approach to teaching people living with HIV how the virus works and why sticking with their treatment can keep them healthy. (Delwyn Verasamy)
ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY

Games could help people stick to HIV treatment

People with HIV can live a long, healthy life — if they take their medication correctly. But too many don’t. A game might help to change that, research shows

  • Thalyta Swanepoel
8 min read
Members of several organisations, NGOs and growers clubs protest as part of the Cannabis Mass Action Gatherings at the Union Building on September 17, 2022 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Alet Pretorius/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
AFRICA

Cannabis legalisation in Africa: Economic opportunities versus public health risks

Interest in the economic benefits of a cannabis industry far outweigh that of research into issues such as cannabis use disorder

  • Musa Aminu
  • Duyilemi Chris Ajonijebu
5 min read
In South Africa, lack of adherence to HIV treatment remains a problem.
COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE WORKER

HIV responses succeed when we let communities lead

The Nomakhayas of Nqileni in the Eastern Cape give us a case study to replicate This content is restricted to registered users and subscribers. Get Your Free Account The Mail &…

  • Zeenat Abdool
1 min read
People languish behind bars for years in countries like eSwatini and Malawi before their cases come to court.
AIDS

A new lease of life for Zimbabwe’s HIV-positive prisoners

Peer support has been pivotal to inmates taking responsibility for their health

  • Jacqueline Muchazoreka, bird
12 min read
Dolutegravir was initially dubbed a wonder drug but a small possible risk of birth defects stalled a global rollout. South Africa has put strict monitoring in place to catch any potential defects early.
ANTIRETROVIRAL DRUGS

Risks & benefits: new HIV drug combo could change the course of SA’s epidemic

South Africa’s next chapter in HIV treatment holds amazing promise, but unlocking it rests on having the right kind of discussions with women

  • Laura López González
5 min read