South African HIV Sufferers to Take Less Medications

The South African Health Minister has announced that, as from April next year, HIV patients who are on ARV treatment will no longer have to take three tablets a day, but only one. During a media briefing, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced a tender award for a single dose of the triple combination of tenofovir, entricitabine and efavirenz.

Dr Motsoaledi noted that though the tender seems costly to the country’s financial wellness, at R5.9 billion, South Africa has managed to reduce the cost of the tender by 38%, which is a massive saving of R2.2 billion. He commented, ‘This new tender has moved from an original cost of R8.1 billion to R5.9 billion for two years, this savings means we can treat more patients with the same budget.’ The price of the three-in-one combination from Aspen Pharmacare, Cipla Medpro and Mylan Pharmaceuticals, who were awarded the tender, is R89.37, which Dr Motsoaledi described as now the world’s lowest price for this product.

This move is set to improve the wellbeing of all pregnant women whose wellness has been affected by HIV, and their children. According to Dr Motsoaledi, from April 2013, all HIV-positive pregnant women, regardless of their CD4 count, will be given the single dose combination during pregnancy and breast feeding. He said that at least 80% of patients who are on ARV treatment will also be able to switch to the single dose combination, noting that those who can’t be switched, for whatever reason, can still take individual ARV drugs.

The benefits of the new drug will be huge in terms of patient compliance, logistics and storage, Dr Motsoaledi said, adding that it will also have fewer side effects. ‘The fixed dose combination brings with it an additional extraordinary benefit, the combination is more effective than dual therapy and has fewer side effects for the pregnant mother, in addition to its’ convenient dosage regimen,’ he highlighted.

Dr Francesca Conradie, Clinical Advisor for TB/HIV at the Wits University’s Clinical HIV Research Unit, assured that it would not harm the mothers with a high CD 4 count in any way. ‘Simplification of the tablets is so much easier for mothers and it will lead to better results,’ she said. Dr Motsoaledi added that the drugs will be available in all 3000 health facilities, and there will be no more delays in supply, as experienced in the past. ‘We have asked the suppliers to give us their commitment on this and all three of them have done so,’ he said.

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South African HIV Sufferers to Take Less Medications

Categories: Combination Medication, HIV, South Africa

South Africa reports Over 25% of Schoolgirls have HIV

The South African Health Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, has reported sexual health news that, in his words, has ‘destroyed my soul’. According to Mr Motsoaledi, “sugar daddies” are exploiting the countries schoolgirls, meaning that at least 28% are HIV positive, compared with just 4% of South African boys.

Official statistics show that roughly 10% of South Africans are now living with HIV, a disease that seriously threatens your wellbeing. As a result, South Africa has launched an ambitious programme to tackle HIV and Aids, and Mr Motsoaledi has been widely praised for his efforts to curb the disease. Yet, the health minister was also forced to admit, as reported in The Sowetan newspaper, that 94,000 schoolgirls also fell pregnant in 2011, and 77,000 had abortions at state facilities. He claimed this was, again, due to the exploitation of sugar daddies.

Since President Jacob Zuma appointed him South African health minister in 2009, Mr Motsoaledi has run the largest anti-retroviral (ARV) programme in the world. According to official statistics, after Mr Motsoaledi took office, the number of HIV-positive people receiving life-saving ARV drugs more than doubled from 678,500 to 1.5 million. With the previous government, led by former President Thabo Mbeki, the link between HIV and Aids was questioned, and it was argued that the government could not afford to roll out this treatment to all the South Africans who needed it.

In spite of Mr Motsoaledi’s ARV success, however, comes the “soul-destroying” news that older men are still taking advantage of young girls, causing a disproportionate rise in cases of HIV. Speaking at a public meeting in the town of Carolina in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province, Mr Motsoaledi said the large number of young girls who were HIV-positive ‘destroyed my soul’ because ‘it is clear that it is not young boys who are sleeping with these girls. It is old men.’

The Sowetan also quoted him as saying, ‘We must take a stand against sugar daddies because they are destroying our children.’ He added that the disease even affected the wellness of some pregnant girls, who were aged between 10 and 14, as they also tested positive for HIV. ‘77 000 girls had abortions at public facilities,’ he said. ‘We can no longer live like that. We want to put an end to it.’

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South Africa reports Over 25% of Schoolgirls have HIV

Categories: girls, HIV, South Africa

HIV Infection Among Young South Africans Halves in 6 Years

A sexual education program has helped to halve the number of HIV infections in teenagers in the South African province of Gauteng in just six years. The program focused on persuading youngsters not to rush into having sex but also pushing the same sex message if they did have sex by encouraging them to use condoms.

Condom use among young men is said to be at 80%. However, the message is still taking time to get through according to figures from the Gauteng AIDS Council – the pregnancy rate among schoolgirls remains high and the highest rate of new HIV infections is in women aged 15-29.

The council is a partnership between Gauteng Provincial Government and various local government and community-based organisations. Part of its role is to reduce HIV infection in the province – at the moment around 16% of the population in Gauteng is HIV positive. The council’s other main function is to ensure those who do have the infection get sufficient treatment and support.

The safe sex message has been delivered in schools and through media campaigns focusing on families. The council’s next priority will be to focus on men who have unprotected sex with teenagers and young women. The HIV infection rate among these men is much higher than average and they are less likely to use condoms.

South Africa is believed to have more people living with HIV and AIDS than anywhere else in the world. Problems of lack of education, unemployment and poverty have exacerbated the problem, in particular among young women who choose to pursue relationships with much older men to get them out of their situation. The issue of inter-generational sex and gender-based violence that leads to higher rates of HIV in young women and some boys is another matter of concern for the Gauteng AIDS Council.

 

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Categories: HIV rate, reduced, South Africa