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People with HIV are still dying from a treatable, but neglected, disease: all it needs is a plan

People with HIV are still dying from a treatable, but neglected, disease: all it needs is a plan

THEMBI Ngubane was a young woman who became famous through the American National Public Radio show Thembi’s AIDS Diary: A Year in the Life of a South African Teenager. She was vibrant, punchy, full of life. She recorded the consultation when, as a doctor, I started her on antiretroviral therapy in 2005. Jo Menell’s documentary film, Thembi, gives a sensitive and nuanced account of her fast rise to fame, culminating in meeting Barack Obama and addressing the US Congress, and then equally rapid fall into oblivion, loss from care, and death. GILLES VAN CUTSEM, Honorary Research Associate, Centre for Infectious…
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Zambian study points to why some mothers don’t carry on taking HIV drugs

Zambian study points to why some mothers don’t carry on taking HIV drugs

JERRY JOHN NUTOR, Assistant Professor, Family Health Care Nursing, University of California, San Francisco THERE are more than 85,000 children living with HIV in Zambia. The primary source of infection is from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is an effective strategy to eliminate these new infections. But it only works if women take their medications consistently. Adherence to ART is still a major challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, especially among pregnant and breastfeeding women. In 2012, the World Health Organisation (WHO) introduced new guidelines for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Women with HIV…
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