MilMed Jan Feb 2007.qxp - SA Military Health Service

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NEWS CLIPSNEWSNEWS CLIPSNEWS CLIPS NEWS6Violence Against WomenVOA\News\William Eagle"Stepping Stones” Helps End Violence Against Women inSouth Africa”The project, called Stepping Stones, was originally a seriesof workshops with men and women in separate groupsdiscussing, among other things, HIV/AIDS and safer sex.However, Stepping Stones also addresses gender issues inrelationships and has brought a reduction in violenceagainst women. The program began in Uganda but wasadapted for South Africa by Professor Rachel Jewkes, thedirector of the Gender and Health Research Unit at SouthAfrica’s Medical Research Council. Jewkes said: “There’s aproportion of men who use violence and feel uncomfortableabout it, and there’s a proportion of men who have notreally given thought to whether what they are doing is rightor wrong. And I think that putting forth the position that thisis something that is not acceptable is helpful.” Jewkes sayspopulation studies in South Africa show about 25 percent ofall women may have been beaten by their boyfriends orhusbands, and that about 10 percent were beaten in the lastyear. Other estimates say as many as half of all women mayhave been assaulted. Jewkes says violence is seen as ameans of male control over women among all races.AIDS DrugsThe Wall Street Journal Europe\News\Anita Greil“Roche gives HIV drug expertise to 3 African firms”Swiss drug maker Roche Holding AG said it will providethree African companies with the technical expertise tomanufacture a generic version of its HIV medicine Invirasefree of charge. Roche, based in Basel, Switzerland, said itwill transfer the technology to Aspen Pharmacare HoldingsLtd., based in South Africa, and to Cosmos Ltd. andUniversal Corp., both of Kenya. The companies will be ableto produce Invirase for supply throughout Kenya and SouthAfrica, in addition to any country within sub-Saharan Africaor defined as "least developed" by the United Nations.Invirase, also known by the generic name Saquinavir, is partof a group of drugs called protease inhibitors, which workby blocking the reproduction of the human immunodeficiencyvirus by disabling the crucial protease enzyme.Roche said the program allowing production of Saquinavirwould eventually extend to 25 companies in 14 countries.Orphans and Vulnerable ChildrenSomaliNet\News\South Africa“Food Aid for Vulnerable Children”Islamic Relief South Africa will implement its food aidprogramme in Soweto, south of Johannesburg, as part of itsOrphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) campaign. Thebeneficiaries are three "Soul Buddyz" clubs who will receive300 food parcels from Islamic Relief during a function atNkholi Primary School in Pimville, and mentions that SoulBuddyz clubs are part of Soul City Institute for Health andDevelopment Communication, a dynamic and innovativemulti-media health promotion and social change project.Islamic Relief is an international relief and developmentNGO founded in the UK in 1984 with branches in35 countries, having consultative status with the Economicand Social Council of the United Nations. As well asresponding to disasters and emergencies, Islamic Reliefpromotes sustainable economic and social development byworking with local communities, regardless of race, religionor gender.HIV and AIDSMedIndia.com\News“Rise in Use of Female Condoms in South Africa”The use of female condoms appears to be rising in SouthAfrica, which has become its second largest market in theworld. South Africa has among the highest incidence ofHIV/AIDS globally, and the use of female condoms forms afocal point of government's national programme of ABC(abstinence, be faithful, condomise), with distributionincreasing from 1.3 million in 2001/02 to 2.6 million in2004/05. For 2005/06 the target was to distribute threemillion female condoms. Mags Beksinska, ExecutiveDirector of the Reproductive Health and HIV Research Unitat the University of Witwatersrand, said, "I believe that itsphased introduction over the years has gained momentum”.Beksinska said that measurement of the impact of femalecondoms in the country was difficult because these changesneeded to be measured in protected sex acts. Figures haveshown that in South Africa one in four women are HIVpositive by the age of 24, which is twice the infection ratefor men. According to Beksinska the introduction of a newmethod of protection takes several years for generalacceptance, and as a method available it has becomeknown by over half of women of a reproductive age.
CLIPSNEWS CLIPSNEWS CLIPSEleanor Sopili, an HIV-positive Cape Town woman, said thatwhen she started using the female condom, it felt a "little bitfunny". However, she said, "But as you continue using it,there is no difference between that and the male condom”.Katy Pepper, African region programme manager at the notfor-profitFemale Health Foundation, said that the initialresponse to female condoms in the country was fairly good.At present barriers to the programme include a lack of stafftraining, lack of promotional materials, lack ofunderstanding, lack of access, and bias among medicalstaff.Malaria Outlook ForumThe Herald\News\Tsitsi Matope“Malaria Kills 83 000 in SADC - Experts”At least 83 000 people from the bulk of Southern Africancountries have died of malaria between October 2005 andMarch 2006. This was revealed by malaria experts at aMalaria Outlook Forum (MALOF), which was followed bythe Southern Africa Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF)meeting in Zimbabwe, following disturbing reports that thekiller disease, which could kill within days, was not beingprioritised. Malaria experts from the World HealthOrganisation, who were among the 30 participants, arguedthat there was lack of adequate preparedness and quickresponsiveness to malaria outbreaks. WHO MalariaEpidemics and Emergencies Officer, Mr Joaquim da Silva,said, "There is a need to have on-the-time data on seasonaloutlook and daily to monthly bulletins on wind, humidity,speed interaction and appropriate or close accuratetemperatures for us to determine what needs to be done”.He added, "Zambia recorded over 5 000 deaths during thatperiod while in South Africa slightly above 40 people diedand 1 500 malaria cases were recorded every month of thesix-month malaria season". He said during the last rainyseason, acute malaria epidemics were reported in theOkavango Delta in Botswana, southern parts ofMozambique, Ajozorobe district in Madagascar, Mankuouand Andara districts of Namibia, Limpopo province of SouthAfrica and in areas of the Zambezi Valley in Zimbabwe.Heart smart: New drug improves blood flowIssued: Monash South Africa - wholly owned by Monash UniversityAccording to a study published last week by MonashUniversity in Melbourne, Australia, a new drug has beenshown to improve blood flow in diseased arteries, reducingthe risk of high blood pressure and heart attacks.The finding is a significant development for the Monashteam that, in conjunction with Bayer Health Care, hopes touse the drug as part of a revolution in the management ofheart disease.Dr Harald Schmidt, Director of the Centre for VascularHealth, and his colleagues at Monash University, Dr PeterSchmidt and Barbara Kemp-Harper, say the next step will beto translate the research so it benefits patients. Clinical trialsof the drug have already started for the treatment of acuteheart failure.Dr Schmidt’s team and colleagues in Germany and the UShave previously shown that oxidative stress – theappearance of free radicals in the walls of arteries – is a keymechanism underlying cardiovascular disease.“Free radicals contribute to the formation of arterialblockages. What’s more, as the number of free radicalsincreases, they also interfere with the ability of the cellslining arteries to control the contraction and dilation of thearteries,” Dr Schmidt says. “The arteries stiffen and getblocked”.When a blockage occurs, the cells lining the arteriesproduce nitric oxide to signal to the arterial muscles thatthey need to dilate the artery and allow more blood throug,but free radicals destroy a key enzyme that allows thearterial cells to respond in this way, so the signal doesn’t getthrough.However, the new drug – developed by Bayer Health Care– reactivates the damaged enzyme.“Our results show that the drug directly binds to and repairsthe damaged enzyme. And as the number of free radicalsincreases, the drug starts working harder,” says Dr Schmidt.Dr Schmidt, together with clinical and basic sciencecolleagues, is creating a new research centre at Monashwith the aim of challenging orthodox thinking on heartdisease and stroke.“Vascular diseases are the number one cause of deathworldwide. Yet we don’t know enough about the causes toreliably identify and treat cases, let alone prevent thesediseases,” he says. “In up to 95 percent of cases, the rootcauses of vascular diseases are still unknown. So clinicianshave to rely on ‘lifestyle’ indicators and ‘risk factors’ such ashigh blood pressure and high cholesterol.“However, not all people with high blood pressure or highcholesterol experience heart attack or stroke. At the sametime, many people without any apparent risk factors haveunexpected heart attacks and strokes. We need a revolutionin vascular diagnosis, treatment and prevention. This discoveryis an important step along the way”.7
Page 1 and 2: VOLUME 23 NO 1 - 2007
Page 3: contentsmilmed@mweb.co.zaRegulars
Page 8 and 9: World Aids DayWritten by Dr Dhesi A
Page 10 and 11: efore World AIDS Day - and during t
Page 12 and 13: 12AMHU FS,2 Mil Hosp alsoCommemorat
Page 14 and 15: Written and photographed by Lt John
Page 16 and 17: Written and photographed by Lt John
Page 18 and 19: The Human Battle SpaceWritten by Br
Page 20 and 21: 20PREGNANCYWritten by Lt Col D. Jac
Page 22 and 23: Can Dogs get Malaria?No, but Biliar
Page 24 and 25: Nursing is a HumanScience and ArtWr
Page 26 and 27: An accomplishedSportsmanArticle and
Page 28: Which would make you happier?Living

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