Tb Drugs

Traditional and Western healers team up to treat patients with HIV and tuberculosis because many people consult more than one health system.

South Africa lost nearly 100 000 people to TB last year – three-quarters of whom were HIV-positive. Reducing the burden will benefit the economy.

South African jails are making notable strides in screening for, and curing, tuberculosis.

The global TB rate has been falling by 1.5% per year – far slower than the 10% yearly declines needed to end TB within twenty years.

Healthy lungs don’t mean you’re off the hook: tuberculosis can take root anywhere in the body.

A survey of stock levels of HIV drugs is in stark contrast to health department claims that "there is no shortage".

Patients with drug resistant TB could benefit from a new drug regimen, which will be tested in clinical trials this year.

Widespread tuberculosis awareness campaigns can rein in its increasing transmission rates.

New drugs are working on XDR-TB – but must be strictly controlled to prevent further resistance.

Some have barely feasible healthcare ideas, others are in ‘populist’, ‘throwaway’ electioneering mode.

M&G readers comment on comparisons of Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, and say we need cool heads when it comes to pharmaceutical drugs.

At least in one in every five public health facilities in the country has run out of HIV and/or TB drugs in the last two months, says a report.

An effective healthcare system will free up donor money for more desperate countries.

SA’s strategy to treat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is noble, but cracks are showing.

A new combination treatment has been tested in Southern Africa, but it is not available locally.