United States pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced on Wednesday that it would provide unlimited supplies of the drug Diflucan free of charge to treat HIV/AIDS sufferers in 50 of the world's poorest countries. "This is a lifetime of work not just a one-day press release," Dr Henry McKinnell, Chairman and CEO of Pfizer, said at UN headquarters. "We will continue to work with the UN, the WHO and other international organisations on how public/private partnerships like the Diflucan programme can be most effective."
Equity in Health
Pfizer offers free drugs to poor countries
Research Work On HIV Jabs In Grave Jeopardy
Reports that Kenya's controversy-prone Aids vaccine trials recently hit a major snag with the resignation of the leading Kenyan researcher, Dr Ephantus Njagi, raise disturbing questions about the entire vaccine development programme.
The price of women's health: safe motherhood in low-income countries
Every day an estimated 1600 women die world-wide as a result of problems during pregnancy or childbirth. Many of these deaths are preventable. But which safe motherhood interventions are the most cost-effective in resource-poor settings?
2 women speak up for Aids victims
THE death of their loved ones from Aids, and the controversy and alienation that followed, has prompted two unemployed women in Kubusi village near Stutterheim to call upon parents and partners to stop discriminating and rejecting people with Aids.
AIDS Drugs Act Differently on African HIV Strains
Researchers report that genetic variations in the HIV (news - web sites) strains most common in Africa seem to make it harder for drugs called protease inhibitors to fight them. But the results do not mean that the drugs are powerless against these strains of HIV, according to the study's lead author, who noted that other factors are involved in determining the effectiveness of protease inhibitors.
Cholera epidemic slowing down, but not over yet -
KZN health dept
The daily number of new cholera cases continues to drop, and it appears the epidemic is tailing off, the KwaZulu-Natal health department said in a statement on Tuesday. But, it says, the epidemic can only be considered over if there are no new cases reported for 10 days in a row. The total of new cases in the last 24 hours is 231, a low number compared to January 30, which saw 1 010 new cholera infections in the beleaguered province, the highest figure recorded in one day since the outbreak of the disease in mid-August last year.
Mcgreed Refuses to Help Raped Employee
American fast food giant McDonald's has been dubbed "McGreed" in Mpumalanga after refusing to supply anti-Aids drugs to a staff member who was raped after working a late shift. The transnational corporation refuses to supply transport for staff who knock off between midnight and 2am, and who are regularly ambushed by criminals. A 29-year-old waitress who was gang-raped in February is so terrified of going home after work at the McDonald's Nelspruit branch that she spends her nights hiding in the local mall and only leaves after sunrise.
New cholera cases in KwaZulu-Natal
A total of 228 new cholera cases have been
reported in KwaZulu-Natal since Saturday, the provincial health department said on Sunday. No news deaths had been reported. The highest number of new cases had been reported in Lower Umfolozi District with 86, followed by Eshowe with 82. The lowest number of cases were reported on the South Coast and Pietermaritzburg with six each.
Procedural hearings in asbestos case begin in UK
A PROCEDURAL hearing to limit the issues and determine the trial date and length of the asbestos case against Cape plc began in the London High Court yesterday. The court will determine the timetable of the trial. The high court in London was told at yesterday's hearing that more than 6500 South Africans had registered for claims in the multimillion-dollar compensation battle against Cape plc. However, more than 150 of the claimants have died since the case started.
Sexual Mores Fuel AIDS Spread: African Official
Attitudes toward sex and sexuality are at the core of the African AIDS pandemic, according to a leading South African health official. He argues that researchers and politicians must involve the African public in an open discussion of human behavior if they hope to combat the disease successfully.``Sex is regarded as a taboo in Africa--you don't speak openly about it,'' said Dr. Malegapuru William Makgoba, president of the Medical Research Council of South Africa. ``We all know that this is a sexually transmitted disease and that's the bottom line, and we're doing everything except focusing on the real major factor that determines whether or not you get the disease.''