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Mail & Guardian
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The US government’s Aids fund, Pepfar, has donated 231 000 doses over two years to South Africa — 96 000 of the doses will arrive between October and December, enough for 13 728 people to use to protect themselves against HIV infection for one year.
ANTIRETROVIRAL INJECTION

South Africa to roll out HIV prevention injection CAB-LA in clinics, with US donation

CAB-LA virtually eliminates someone’s chances of contracting HIV, but costs about four times more than the government can afford to pay

  • Mia Malan
  • Linda Pretorius
5 min read
Students from the University of the Witwatersrand explain the self HIV testing kit, in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, on March 19, 2018. – Self-testing kits and vending machines distributing prescription drugs are two ways that HIV treatment is being automated to reduce stigma in South Africa, home of the world’s biggest HIV epidemic. (Photo by MUJAHID SAFODIEN / AFP)
HIV

A to Z guide on HIV: The top 10 things to know from prevention to a possible cure

The HIV pandemic isn’t going anywhere until a cure is found. In the meantime, HIV clinicians say South Africa should protect its victories

  • Nomathemba Chandiwana
  • Bronwyn Bosch
  • Simiso Sokhela
  • Francois Venter
10 min read
Professor Salim Abdool Karim is leading South Africa’s Covid-19 response.
DYLAN BUSH

Could an implant the size of a match stick save teenage girls from HIV? Find out.

Bhekisisa editor Mia Malan talks to HIV scientist Salim Abdool Karim about his research on risky relationships of young women and older men.

  • Mia Malan
  • Dylan Bush
1 min read
When the fruit is packed into boxes, many farm workers disappear, making it difficult to keep them on HIV treatment. (Dylan Bush)
HIV PREVENTION STRATEGY

Plant, pick, pack: Finding Mpumalanga’s missing fruit pickers

In this province, the agricultural and mining sectors draw thousands of workers each year – and then they disappear. Here’s why we need to find them.

  • Joan Van Dyk
1 min read
‘We want children to imagine themselves differently and to engage in dialogue that is essential to their health and wellbeing.’
CHILDREN S THEATRE

Theatre company breaks down barriers to communication

Investing in the Future Youth Development Award. Winner: Drama for Life Theatre Company Project

  • Advertorial Supplement
2 min read
The clinic targets women who cannot afford screenings at private facilities
BREAST CANCER

Hlokomela takes healthcare to women who need it most

Investing in the Future Health Award Winner: Hlokomela Women’s Clinic

  • Advertorial Supplement
2 min read
Give a young woman as little as R100 a month and what does it buy her? School supplies, airtime and maybe even enough financial freedom to keep her HIV negative.
BHEKISISA TEAM

Could R100 a month be enough to keep South Africa’s young women HIV free?

In a world hemmed in by patriarchy and poverty, cash transfers could be the missing link in SA’s HIV prevention programmes.

  • Catherine Sozi
5 min read
Another study confirms that HIV-positive people on treatment and with very low levels of the virus in their blood can’t transmit HIV. (Siphiwe Sibeko, Reuters)
AIDS2018
Video

You can’t transmit HIV if you take ARVs correctly and are virally suppressed

Researchers once again confirmed: It’s impossible for HIV-positive people on treatment to transmit the virus through sex — this time among gay men.

  • Mia Malan
  • Bhekisisa Team
4 min read
Tough pill to swallow? Wendy Makheya* says the HIV prevention pill is her best chance of avoiding contracting the virus.
BHEKISISA TEAM
Video

PrEPing young women for the HIV prevention pill

This tablet can help to protect the country’s young women from contracting HIV.

  • Pontsho Pilane
  • Bhekisisa Team
10 min read
(John McCann)
HIV

Trans men: The ‘invisible’ group in SA’s HIV health plan

Activists have red-flagged how the HIV prevention plan for the LGBTI community doesn’t cater for transgender men who have sex with other men

  • Carl Collison
6 min read
Early start: This year
HIV

LGBTI-focused national HIV plan launched

"A recent report found that the stigmatisation of homosexuality has made public health interventions difficult to implement effectively."

  • Carl Collison
4 min read
Medical male circumcision can reduce the risk of contracting HIV for a heterosexual man by up to 60%.
CIRCUMCISION

Do medically circumcised men take more risks in the bedroom?

New research may have finally answered an old question.

  • Nelisiwe Msomi
3 min read
Loud and clear: A billboard in Lilongwe
HIV PREVENTION STRATEGY

Malawi to halt prosecutions against LGBTI community

Malawi says it will no longer enforce anti-homosexuality laws but dangerous homophobia persists on the country’s streets – and in its clinics.

  • Josephine Chinele
7 min read
Despite the long history of medical racism, any potential Covid-19 vaccines must be tested in Africa — but not only on the continent. (Reuters)
HIV

Could six injections a year protect you from HIV infection?

A new injectable drug could change the face of HIV prevention and the revolution might start right here in South Africa.

  • Pontsho Pilane
3 min read
What started as a bizarre press release touting a “potential HIV cure” has gone viral leading media houses all over the world to lash out over firm Zion Medical’s latest claims.
HIV PREVENTION STRATEGY

South Africa on the cusp of HIV vaccine breakthrough

Recently the first participants in the HVTN 702 study received jabs of a vaccine that could stop HIV in its tracks

  • Glenda Gray
5 min read
Will superantibodies produced in laboratories become our best bet for staving off HIV infection?
HIV PREVENTION STRATEGY

Could we mass-produce HIV immunity?

One tiny protein may hold the secret to ending the HIV pandemic.

  • Nono Mkhize
4 min read
Medical specialist Kevin Rebe said the Parktown Boys High’s policy was “probably outdated and not based on the latest evidence”.
HIV PREVENTION STRATEGY

Top school’s controversial HIV sports policy raises discrimination concerns

Specialist says contact sport policy isn’t "necessarily supported by HIV transmission evidence" but school says it’s in line with the SA Schools Act.

  • Prega Govender
8 min read
Daily PrEP use can lower your risk of getting HIV from sex by about 90%. Kevin Rebe tells Mia Malan how to use PrEP properly.
HIV PREVENTION STRATEGY

Women praise HIV prevention pill as research could produce a simpler injection

For those at risk, taking a pill that can stop them from getting HIV is a ‘life-changing experience’

  • Laura Lopez Gonzalez
  • Mia Malan
7 min read
Community health workers didn’t just provide at-home HIV testing. They went into schools to help teach young people sexual and reproductive health and encourage boys to get medically circumcised. (MSF)
ARV

#AIDS2016: How a rural community helps each other stay on HIV treatment

An adherence club helped almost all patients stay on their treatment.

  • Ina Skosana
  • Mia Malan
6 min read
HIV PREVENTION STRATEGY

#AIDS2016: Medical male circumcision saves millions in lives and costs

Statistics show that voluntary male circumcision is a crucial weapon in the fight to control HIV.

  • Aaron Motsoaledi 1
5 min read