These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: First step to a multi-racial black-and-white policy on AIDS. Report from South Africa 1.
    Author: Whiteside A.
    Journal: AIDS Anal Afr; 1993; 3(6):2. PubMed ID: 12287720.
    Abstract:
    Nationwide antenatal clinic surveys in South Africa found the prevalence of HIV to be 0.8% in October/November 1990, 1.5% in 1991, and 2.7% in 1992. The highest reported prevalence was 3.3% from Natal province. A survey of sexually transmitted disease clinic attendees in Johannesburg in 1992 found HIV prevalence rates of 13% among males and 18.7% among females. HIV is thus spreading rapidly in South Africa and responding to the epidemic should be a national priority. The initial response to the epidemic was, however, slow and inadequate. The African National Congress, the government, and various other bodies eventually came together in late 1991 and early 1992 to schedule a national convention on AIDS for October 1992. The conference was attended by 442 delegates with the goal of developing a framework for a national AIDS strategy based upon basic human rights for all, the integration of HIV/AIDS activities into primary health care, and the development of socioeconomic strategies toward improving the quality of life for all South Africans. The National AIDS Coordinating Committee of South Africa (NACOSA) was established to develop a draft strategy document. A second NACOSA workshop in September 1993 attended by 40 people yielded the following themes: grassroots involvement is important in prevention programs, care, and response to the epidemic; there should be no discrimination against HIV-positive people; the socioeconomic inequalities and legacies of the apartheid system which have facilitated the spread of HIV in South Africa were recognized; the importance of counseling to both prevent HIV transmission and support those infected was repeatedly emphasized; care facilities are in danger of being overwhelmed with patients; and directed research with a clearing house for information are needed. NACOSA challenged politicians at all levels to make the fight against HIV/AIDS top priority, and called for finding ways to slow the spread on a national scale. The big challenge is to get conference and NACOSA ideas translated into action, and get people to adopt HIV-preventive behaviors.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]