1999

Durban sharks feed off Aids: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - July 09, 1999; Aaron Nicodemus; Aids and KwaZulu-Natal hotels apparently don t mix very well. Last week, participants in a workshop on Aids were nearly evicted from the Hluhluwe Zulu Nyala Protea Hotel in the north-east of the province when it was revealed that some were HIV-positive. According to Aids activist Oziel Mdletshe, who attended the worksh
Spreading the gospel about Aids: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - July 02, 1999; Wonder Hlongwa; The recent spate of deaths among young people in Highflats, KwaZulu-Natal, believed to be caused by Aids, has prompted the formation of a youth self-help group whose aim is to spearhead an Aids awareness campaign in the area. Situated between the South Coast and Natal Midlands, Highflats is one of the poorest and most
The absurdity of the HIV dissidents: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - June 25, 1999; It s irritating to be accused of stifling debate while debating. Aids-denial scientists are like Holocaust-denial historians. Of course they have a constitutional right to be heard - but Holocaust denial didn t get cranked up until the 1980s, when every thinking person had known for 40 years that the Holocaust actually
World Bank woos Aids drug: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - June 25, 1999; Larry Elliott in Cologne; The World Bank is wooing the world s biggest drugs companies with a multibillion dollar package of guarantees to encourage the development of a low-cost Aids vaccine for poor countries. Alarmed by the relentless spread of the HIV virus, the bank is proposing the creation of a global health insurance programme to enable
Aids 'establishment' brooks no dissent: Daily Mail & Guardian - Johannesburg, South Africa. June 21, 1999; Marten du Plessis; IN his open letter to SAfm talk-show host Tim Modise about the controversial issue of HIV and Aids, Donald G McNeil seems to be saying, Don t you worry your woolly little head, I ll do the thinking. I ve looked at this issue and it s not worth debating. McNeil s patronising letter is in response to a talk show discussi
No whorehouse blues here, babe: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - June 18, 1999; Aaron Nicodemus; When clients at The Ranch eat lunch, they can watch one of two large-screen televisions. On Monday afternoon, one shows close-up shots of women s genitalia and breasts. The other shows Parliament in action. It s an odd juxtaposition, one that spawns a litany of who s being screwed jokes over honey chicken and ice cream
Aw, c'mon, you don't really believe those Aids myths? Myths, quasi-myths and questions about Aids abound. Donald McNeil Jnr attempts to demystify the epidemic in Southern Africa: Daily Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) June 11, 1999; Donald G McNeil Jnr; Despite its size, South Africa is number one in the world in several fields: rugby, cricket, tuberculosis and Aids. One hears too little about the last two. In 1990, a New York Times colleague of mine stationed here, Chris Wren, wrote a story that, in hindsight, is remarkably prescient. It begins with Dr Nthato Mot
Crime is a national disaster: Daily Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) June 11, l999; John Matshikiza With the Lid Off; Response to the saga of my looted home has been huge. Many people have recounted similar misfortunes; most have been amused and appalled at the same time (it is like being in the middle of a horror movie, where the extremity of the situation makes you burst out into a multi- levelled peal of body-wetting laughter). Man
Most of SADC's population scratch a living from the soil: Daily Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) June 04, 1999; Ian Clayton; Out of a population of 180-million in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), only one in 10 has a job in the formal sector and only about 20% of the economically active population have jobs, a Norwegian researcher, Liv Torres, has established. This gives an unemployment rate of nearly 80% in the SADC countri
Africa still stigmatises HIV-positive people: Many HIV-positive people in South Africa fear that revealing their positive status could mean isolation from their communities, or even murder ...: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - May 7, 1999; Aaron Nicodemus reports; AFTER getting over the initial shock of being told that he was HIV-positive, Oziel Mdletshe (31) wrestled with informing his family, his girlfriend and his closest friends. Once he was assured he had their love and support, he struggled with telling everyone else in KwaMashu, a community outside Durban that has a reput
Zimbabwe court rules women are teenagers: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - May 07, 1999; Samu Zulu; Zimbabwean women have no rights in their country and should be considered virtual sex slaves. That is the effect of two recent court rulings. Last month the Zimbabwe Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the nature of African society dictated that women are not equal to men. According to cultural norms, the court said,
Africa still stigmatises HIV-positive people: Daily Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) May 07,1999; Aaron Nicodemus; After getting over the initial shock of being told that he was HIV-positive, Oziel Mdletshe (31) wrestled with informing his family, his girlfriend and his closest friends. Once he was assured he had their love and support, he struggled with telling everyone else in KwaMashu, a community outside Durban that has a reput
Ministry refuses anti-HIV drug discount: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) May 07, 1999; The Ministry of Health says it needs proof of the effectiveness of AZT before it can accept discount offers for the drug. Aaron Nicodemus reports The Ministry of Health has so far refused to accept Glaxo Wellcome s offer of a reduced price for anti-retroviral drugs, and maintains that there is not enough proof that ant
Shifting the medical burden: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - March 26, 1999; The Medical Schemes Act was amended last month to spread medical risks and costs. Kathryn Strachan reports Medical aid schemes are gearing up for a complete overhaul of their operations, with newly introduced legislation opening up new avenues and ending discrimination against the patient. Up to now medical aids have s
More human guinea pigs for Virodene: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - March 19, l999; Charlene Smith and Aaron Nicodemus; The company that produced the controversial Aids drug Virodene has conducted more human trials without the approval of the Medicines Control Council (MCC), according to papers filed before the Pretoria High Court. In 1997 the MCC suspended human trials of the drug. The documents reveal that despite no apparent financia
The lambs of silence: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - March 19, l999; Loose cannon : Robert Kirby; In a quick-draw response to an opinion expressed in this column some four weeks ago, Anita Kleinsmidt of the Centre for Applied Legal Studies - hereinafter referred to as Cals - dances intrepidly to the defence of the rights of nannies - hereinafter referred to as childminders . In the column I said that parents should
The unlikely birthplace of an Aids drug: Daily mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) March 12, 1999; One of South Africa s most under-resourced hospitals has been named as the research base of a new Aids drug. David Shapshak, Evidence wa ka Ngobeni and Aaron Nicodemus report. Ga-Rankuwa is an unlikely place for an Aids breakthrough. The dusty, dishevelled hospital outside Pretoria has been almost abandoned by the heal
Criminalising unprotected sex: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - March 05, 1999; Ted Leggett; After years of withdrawing from the sex lives of South Africans, the government is considering poking its nose into the bedroom again. The Law Commission is presently circulating a discussion paper on the need for a statutory offence aimed at harmful HIV-related behaviour , or rather, the need for criminalising the spr
Planning for Aids needs to start now: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - March 05, l999; Charlene Smith; In 10 years, the average life expectancy of South Africans may be 40 years, there will be fewer children and many will be in orphanages. Prison populations will be mostly sick and dying, there will be greater absenteeism in the workplace, and farmers will battle to find enough well people to harvest crops and till the
AZT case put to the test: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - February 26, 1999; Charlene Smith; The Centre for Applied Legal Studies (Cals) and the National Association for People with Aids (Napwa) are planning a test case to challenge Minister of Health Nkosazana Zuma s decision not to let state hospitals use the drug AZT to slow down transmission rates between HIV-positive mothers and their babies. The case, wh
Bad blood over malpractice allegations: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - January 15 l999; Thokozani Mtshali; A doctor in Piet Retief, Mpumalanga, has filed a charge with the police against faceless culprits who are spreading allegations that he injected patients with HIV-infected blood. The police believe the rumours were started by people who are jealous of Dr Phillip Pretorious s thriving private practice. Pretorious (50) h
Soaps in front line of battleSoaps in front line of battle against Aids: Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - January 1, 1999; David Gough in Dar es Salaam; Mashaka is the best-known truck driver in Tanzania , and his exploits are famous. He spends most of his time on the roads of East Africa, rarely sees his wife and has a girlfriend in every town. Mashaka became ill a few weeks ago and Tanzanians are holding their breath as his health deteriorates by the week. He coughs

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©1980, 1999. AEGiS.