Metropolitan, CellBook produce HIV/AIDS cellbook

Metropolitan has partnered with CellBook to produce the B the Future cellbook - an information booklet on HIV and AIDS which can be downloaded onto cellphones. B the Future is considered one of the largest social initiatives to fight HIV and AIDS in South Africa, with a potential audience of over 30 million mobile phone users. Read more >>

Local celebs to help communicate HIV messages

[Gabi Khumalo] DURBAN: The 4th Southern African AIDS Conference in Durban, got some colour on Wednesay, 1 April 2009 when local celebs such as Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse, Sephemo Rapulana who is known as Tau from Generations and soccer star Shoes Moshoeu got together in a round table discussion on the role their peers can play with regards to HIV and AIDS prevention. Read more >>

Handbook to help local govt respond to HIV, AIDS

[Gabi Khumalo] DURBAN: A handbook has been developed to facilitate governance and development responses to HIV and AIDS. It provides step-by-step guidance to local government practitioners on how HIV and AIDS can be integrated into local development governance by using existing municipal processes. Read more >>

Nurses should be backbone of ARV treatment

[Kristin Palitza] DURBAN: Effectively scaling up South Africans' access to anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment will require decentralisation of health services from hospitals to clinics and allowing nurses to manage and eventually to initiate ARV treatment and care. Read more >>

KZN kids learn AIDS, life lessons through soccer

[Gabi Khumalo] DURBAN: A programme launched by a UK non-profit organisation to teach young people life lessons through soccer strategies has received a positive response from the youth in KwaZulu-Natal. Read more >>

New ideas at 4th National AIDS Conference

DURBAN: South Africa's fourth national AIDS conference opened in the east-coast city of Durban this week with calls to scale up AIDS programming in a country that still has a long way to go in reversing the epidemic. Read more >>

KENYA: New centre brings HIV services to truckers

JOHANNESBURG: "Every trucker should know how to change a tyre and put on a condom," said Anisa Abdalla, a doctor in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, at the opening of a new "roadside wellness centre" offering HIV services to truck drivers and other transport workers. Read more >>

HIV infection in China rises dramatically

AIDS is now the leading cause of death among infectious diseases on the mainland, as official figures showed that 7000 people had died in the first nine months of 2008 and 45 000 were infected with HIV. Read more >>

Cardiovascular Journal of Africa turns 20

The Cardiovascular Journal of Africa (CVJA), the peer-reviewed, indexed cardiology journal, celebrates its 20th anniversary this week. CVJA is circulated throughout the continent and is an official journal of the Pan-African Society of Cardiology (PASCAR). Read more >>

Big men more susceptible to atrial fibrillation

Older men who were big during their 20s face an increased risk of suffering from atrial fibrillation, or abnormal heart rhythm. New research from the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, reveals that height and weight are both factors. Read more >>

New light-based system reveals breast tumor oxygen status

Light directed at a breast tumor through a needle can provide pathologists with biological specifics of the tumor and help oncologists choose treatment options that would be most effective for that individual patient. Read more >>

Statin cuts risk of blood clots

A cholesterol-lowering drug can potentially cut the risk of blood clots. Read more >>

Discovery retracts second appeal against CMS

Discovery recently retracted its second appeal against two earlier rulings by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS), which ordered the company to fund its member, Sylvia Erasmus, in full for the use of the anti-rheumatic biologic, Enbrel, after previous treatment with a fully-funded biologic had failed. Read more >>

Marijuana helps against cancer

WASHINGTON: The main chemical in marijuana appears to aid in the destruction of brain cancer cells, offering hope for future anti-cancer therapies, researchers in Spain wrote in a study released on Thursday, 2 April 2009. Read more >>

Addiction drugs help compulsive behaviours

According to new research at the University of Minnesota a drug commonly used to treat alcohol and drug addiction has a similar effect on the compulsive behaviour of kleptomaniacs - it curbs their urge to steal. Read more >>

Possible hazards of BPA in baby bottles

According to MAM Baby, a European baby products manufacturer, a lot of public attention and concern has recently been given to the issue of Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical found in polycarbonate baby bottles. Some scientific reports have suggested that the chemical has the ability to leach from clear plastic beverage containers when they are exposed to heat. Read more >>

How men, women handle stress… it's in your genes

How men and women cope differently with stress has been traced to genetic differences. Read more >>

Grapefruit diet almost cost woman her leg

PARIS: A woman who ate a grapefruit each day almost had to have her leg amputated because of a dangerous blood clot, according to an unusual case study reported in the Lancet. Read more >>

Maternal smoking replaces stomach sleeping as the greatest modifiable risk factor for SIDS

A study in the April 1 issue of the journal SLEEP shows that maternal smoking is associated with an impaired infant arousal process that may increase the risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The authors suggest that maternal smoking has replaced stomach sleeping as the greatest modifiable risk factor for SIDS. Read more >>

No new cases of measles reported

PRETORIA: No new cases of measles have been reported in Gauteng following the five confirmed cases reported in the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality on Friday, 3 April 2009. According to the Gauteng Health Department five cases including two adults, a 10 year-old boy, two-year and two-month old babies who are sisters, were confirmed to be infected by the contagious disease. Read more >>

Lacking safe water, children face ongoing risks

[Tracy Lee] In Southern Sudan, where water is not just a basic survival need, but a game of risk, children fall victim to preventable water-borne diseases caused by contaminated water and poor sanitary conditions. Read more >>

Tuberculosis: neglected aspects of the disease under the spotlight in Rio

The third annual forum of the Stop TB Partnership took place in Rio de Janeiro 23 - 25 March. The meeting provided an opportunity to highlight aspects of tuberculosis that usually receive inadequate attention. Read more >>

Reducing TB a matter of life and death

DURBAN: Several years ago, the World Health Organisation (WHO) identified the three most important ways of reducing the risk of tuberculosis (TB) in people living with HIV, who are highly susceptible to the airborne disease. Read more >>

Prevention the best medicine for TB

JOHANNESBURG: Findings from an ongoing South African study into preventative tuberculosis (TB) therapy suggest that prevention really may be the best medicine. Read more >>

Avon Justine Ithemba Breast Cancer Awareness Conference

The conference, that took place on Monday, 30 March, 2009 was targeted at nurses from community health centres, aiming to educate them about the facts of breast cancer, and empower them to actively encourage the women of their communities to not ignore any indications of breast cancer. The conference was held at Gold Reef City Conference Centre. Read more >>

Meningitis: what you can do to safeguard your family - Martina Nicholson Associates

Meningitis is one of those forces of nature, which remind us that - in spite of the magic of medical science - we are still in a life-and-death battle with certain bacteria. Read more >>

World Autism Awareness Day brings hope for autistic children in South Africa - Turquoise PR & Marketing Communications

2 April 2009 is World Autism Awareness Day and it is intended to highlight Autism as a growing health crisis. Read more >>

How to react to menopause - Martina Nicholson Associates

So the party's over. You're officially 50. As you clean up the candle wax and cake-crumbed plates, it suddenly occurs to you: most women hit menopause this side of fifty, so it can't be too long now before you face the big change. What will it be like, a life without naturally produced oestrogen? How many of the horror stories you have heard will happen to you - painful sex, hot flushes, dry skin, hair loss? And should you take hormone replacement therapy (HRT), like half your older friends? Read more >>