One of the reasons that scientists have found it so difficult to create a vaccine against Aids is that the HI virus has the ability to mutate once it enters a host body. This means that it is incredibly difficult to create antibodies that target the virus, since the virus can just change to a new form
President Zuma has thrown his weight behind Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s bold school health scheme that would make condoms freely available to learners.
Debate has been raging about a new initiative planned by the Health Department that would make condoms freely available in schools around South Africa. The plan, which is being championed by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi aims to provide comprehensive healthcare to school pupils, including STI testing and sexual health counseling.
HIV-positive women face shocking abuse at the hands of health-care professionals and police. These are the findings detailed in a study titled “We were never meant to survive” and reported by the Mail&Guardian on Friday (1 June).
With HIV/Aids hitting the headlines in the wake of the 19th International Aids Conference in Washington, two important medical breakthroughs are indicative of the rapid progress being made against the disease.
According to health minister Aaron Motsoaledi, South Africa is on track to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV to below 2% by 2015. He was commenting on the results of a study released by the medical research council that saw mother-to-child transmission rates drop by almost 1% from 2010 levels.
The UN has issued a strong statement highlighting the importance of human rights in the preventing the spread of HIV and Aids. With Human Rights Day only recently passed, it seems appropriate to reflect on the issues raised.
Speaking during the first UN Human Rights Council panel on HIV, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, stressed the link between human rights violations and the spread of HIV, saying “the lack of respect for human rights has not only fuelled the epidemic, it has brought to the surface pernicious and persistent forms of discrimination and marginalisation, in multiple and overlapping manifestations.”
