Condom

SA making great strides in dealing with teen pregnancy.

ON FRIDAY, the department of basic education held a seminar on teenage fertility, hot on the heels of the news that a teenage girl had given birth in a toilet at a school in Eersterus, near Pretoria.

Vaginal gel blocks HIV but not enough to be scientific success

Candidate microbicide PRO 2000 cuts HIV transmission by 30 percent, falling just short of the one-third required to be deemed a success. But scientists say this trial offers proof that the concept of a vaginal gel to block HIV is possible. For the first time in over a decade of research, a vaginal gel called PRO 2000 has been show to cut HIV transmission by 30 percent. Principal investigator Professor Gita Ramjee described this as extremely hopeful at the simultaneous launch of the results in Durban and Montreal, Canada, yesterday (9 Feb). This is the first microbicide study in over a decade that shows promise. It suggests that we are on the right track and we will be able to develop a women-controlled product to prevent HIV in the future, said Ramjee, who heads HIV research at the Medical Research Council (MRC).

Medical Male Circumcision: thinking through the impact for a feminised epidemic

Series Name: 
Nursing Update
Published by: 
Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa
Marion Stevens of the Health Systems Trust focuses on the recent meetings and discussion around medical male circumcision.

There has been a lot of discussion and a lot of resource mobilisation (donors setting money aside) on medical male circumcision. This has been so given recent research findings and the desperate need to find 'something' to do to increase real results in the prevention, treatment and care, and support arena. However, concerns have been expressed about the real implications. The World Health Organization (WHO) held a meeting in Mombasa last month to discuss this issue and the Aids Vaccine Advocacy Coalition held a meeting prior to this to particularly focus on growing concerns regarding the impact of medical male circumcision on an epidemic in which women are mostly infected and affected. I include a background document and a consensus statement from the meeting.

Circumcision gives men an excuse not to use condoms

There is a growing belief among men in Swaziland that circumcision provides complete protection against HIV, a perception that worries non-governmental organisations (NGOs) battling the highest HIV prevalence rate in the world.

Military to lead the way in male circumcision

To keep the army active, circumcision will be gradual. The soldiers in the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) will be the first men to benefit from a government policy to use male circumcision as a tool in the fight against HIV/AIDS, according to senior health officials.