Champion: Father Mvuyo


Father Mvuyo smiles with pleasure. “You know”, he says, “the first four months were very hard. The children were unsettled, badly behaved and you couldn’t trust them. Now they are learning to trust and be trusted. It is so good to see. Aidsbuzz Editors Linda McCourt-Scott, Christine Sievers and photographer Garth Meyer took a closer look at efforts in the Midlands.  Read More

 

Aidsbuzz Champions

Mama Albina Maleka, Helping Hand and Unsung Heroes

Mama Albina Maleka is 64 years old, an age when most people think of retiring. After working for 40 years as a nurse, Ma Albina had certainly earned her right to a relaxing and peaceful retirement. But this resourceful, caring woman simply could not stand back and ignore the desperate plight of the families affected by HIV and AIDS in her community of Tembisa. She therefore started a home-based care group called Helping Hand in 2001. Armed only with gloves and antiseptic donated by the local clinic Ma Albina started caring for five patients in their own homes. Today she and her team of 21 caregivers make home visits to 60 patients a week. The organisation also looks after 70 orphans in the community.

SMS Aids to 33110

SMS the word AIDS followed by the name of a suburb or town and the type of activity to 33110. The main activity categories include: ART, VCT, HBC, OVC, Food, Education, Income,
Grants, Mothers and General. (click here for more detais )

News Feed: Eye on Aids

  • Symptomatic diagnosis as good as lab trials
    Aids sufferers whose treatment is assessed by simple clinical signs are almost on a par with those whose therapies are based on advanced laboratory analysis, the World Health Organisation says.
  • Adverse effects of ARVs depend on race, gender: study
    Although the overall rate of adverse events among HIV-positive people initiating antiretroviral treatment does not differ significantly among different races and genders, there are significant differences for specific adverse events, according to a recently published study.
  • Peace Corps not Aids-friendly, says journalist
    A Peace Corps volunteer that was discharged after he was diagnosed HIV-positive is a victim of discriminatory policy, a Washington Post journalist claims.
  • Government urged to raise treatment standards
    HIV and Aids treatment guidelines for South Africa's public health sector are out of sync not only with many other countries and also the latest research on effective treatment.