The Desmond Tutu Health Foundation (DTHF) would like to add our voice to the growing number of organisations that have raised concern regarding the erroneous statements made by former President Thabo Mbeki on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the cause of Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). In the era that has become known as a…
UNAIDS goals specify that country programs should achieve viral suppression in at least 90% of those who start antiretroviral treatment (ART). In South Africa, only 51-68% of those on antiretroviral treatment (ART) achieve viral suppression, both through poor adherence and loss to care. The greatest losses occur in the first year on ART, with the…
Men who have sex with men (MSM) and Transgender Men and Women have been historically marginalised within Southern African communities and face stigma and discrimination regardless of their HIV status. HIV prevalence among MSM in South Africa is high, sitting at 26.8% in 2017. Many of the studies and trials we undertake at DTHF…
Adolescent girls and young women remain at disproportionately high risk of HIV infection in Sub-Saharan Africa. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective biomedical tool to prevent HIV infection but uptake and continued use by key risk groups such as adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) and men who have sex with men (MSM), has so…
South Africa has fallen short of the UNAIDS 90-90-90 goals for 2020, particularly in the second two measures: Percentage of people living with HIV on treatment (70%) and percentage of people living with HIV who are virally suppressed (64%) [UNAIDS 2020}. Having a raised viral load has risks including poor health outcomes for the individual…
11 March 2022: The nonprofit International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) today announced that the monthly dapivirine vaginal ring received regulatory approval from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) for its use by women ages 18 and older to reduce their HIV risk. This marks a major milestone that brings the first long-acting and…
American physician and anthropologist, Dr. Paul Farmer, died yesterday aged 62. Dr Farmer wad a professor at Harvard Medical School and co-founded the non-profit health organisation, Partners in Health. He passed away after an acute cardiac event while in Rwanda, where he was teaching at the University of Global Health Equity, which he helped establish. DTHC…
This annual lecture is organised in honour of the life and work of Stephen Lawn. Steve was Professor of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and an active member of the TB Centre and worked closely with the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the University of Cape Town (UCT),…
Much has and will be said in the next months, and rightly so, about the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s contribution to democracy, social justice, peace, reconciliation and so much more. Our recollection of this dynamo of a man- short in stature but gigantic in heart -was his sincere and enduring support of our response…
The executive, Board and team at the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre and Health Foundation are deeply saddened by the loss of their patron and supporter, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, in Cape Town. The Archbishop and Mam Leah Tutu became patrons of the Centre and Foundation in August 2004. Since that time, their support has…