DTHF News & Events
PEPFAR: Oh what good you have done!
23 June 2017In 1982, the first case of HIV was reported in South Africa. Thereafter the unerring march of AIDS and death ravaged our communities, filled our hospital beds and cemeteries and rendered families bereft of young breadw...
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Heart disease and living with HIV
19 June 2017HIV is no longer the death sentence it once was: antiretroviral therapy (ARTs) have become so sophisticated that HIV-infected people have a normal life expectancy. However, now that HIV is a manageable, chronic disease, there is a shift in the focus of HIV research. ...
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How can Circumcision Prevent HIV?
19 June 2017Medical Male Circumcision (MMC) is currently recommended for men living in areas where HIV rates are high and prevention tools are scarce. Some men, understandably, are unwilling to undergo MMC. Nyaradzo Chigorimbo-Tsikiwa, with the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre and the Division of Immunology, is researching the cellular and molecular composition of the foreskin. The goal is to identify how HIV penetrat...
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Healthcare Providers Respond to Latest HIV Prevention Research
13 June 2017New HIV prevention technologies are researched all the time at the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation. Often, scientists are concerned with how the people using these products will respond to them. But, equally important, is the response from the healthcare workers prescribing them. Robina Momanyi, an IAVI fellow visiting the Desmond...
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Closing in on Airborne TB
18 May 2017We were very fortunate to have Professor Robin Wood and Dr Keren Middelkoop, both from the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation (DTHF), update us on the tuberculosis (TB) aerobiology project. The project aims to characterise how airborne TB infects people in different spaces. South Africa is one of the six countries globally with the highest rates of TB. The bacteria is responsible for the highest percenta...
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Medical Male Circumcision Uptake to Prevent HIV
8 May 2017The last research meeting of April was on the subject of medical male circumcision (MMC), hosted by Nathan Beijneveld. He presented research of the acceptability and uptake of MMC in two adolescent populations in South Africa. This is a study with MACHO (Males Actively Choosing Healthy Options). The study investigated the upta...
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GeneXpert well received by adolescents
24 April 2017The final March research presentation was hosted by Andrea Mendelsohn and Shabaana Osman. Mendelsohn presented the first portion of an ongoing research trial in Masiphumelele. They have been testing the efficacy and response of an STI (sexually transmitted infection) check in adolescents using the GeneXpert machine. So far, the results have been positive. ...
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22 April: Earth Day & the March for Science
21 April 2017Why is there a March for Science this Saturday? 22 April marks Earth Day and the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. This was the first time a voice was given to environmental consciousness and a call to action was made to support environmentally friendly and sustainable processes. In the face of climate change deni...
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March Research Presentations
23 March 2017At the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation’s (DTHF) March research meeting, we had the pleasure of not one, but two presentations. The speakers were the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Ms Monika Kamkuemah and the DTHF's Dr Emily Krogstad. HIV and Chronic Disease Ms Kamkuemah presented her PhD proposal where she intends to examine HIV in adolescents alongside the epidemiolo...
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Undetectable HIV is Untransmittable
13 March 2017Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation (DTHF) strongly endorses the Prevention Access Campaign (PAC) core message: Undetectable HIV is Untransmittable HIV (U=U). Their message is condensed to the simple hashtag #UequalsU. An HIV-positive person who...
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DTHF receives the Ubuntu Social Responsibility Award 2017
14 February 2017DTHF received the UBUNTU Award for Social Responsibility at a gala event in Cape Town on 17th February. The evening honoured the legacy of Oliver Tambo and those South Africans who have followed in his footsteps. It was attended by President Jacob Zuma and many notable dignitaries. Tracy-Ann Finnan (Senior Finance) and Riaan Beukes (Project Leader for Zimele) graciously received t...
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The Zimele Project: Launch
26 January 2017This January, there was a buzz of excitement at Philippi Village as 120 new staff members arrived ready to make adifference in their community through The Zimele Project. To date, this will be the largest single project that the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation has ever taken on, and we are now excited to share the details of this project with you. ...
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