A LARGE follow-up clinical trial to confirm the encouraging results last year of a small study that tested an antiretroviral-based microbicide gel which showed that it could reduce HIV infection in women by almost 40 percent, is due to begin in a few weeks.

More people than expected have tested HIV-positive in the national HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) campaign.

When the campaign was launched in April last year, it was expected that about 1.6 million or 11% of the 15 million South Africans targeted for HIV testing, would come out HIV-positive. The projection was based on the national HIV prevalence level of 11%. But of the 10.2 million people who tested in the national HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) campaign, about 17 - 18% or round about 1.7 million people were found to be having HIV infection. While figures vary from province to province, Mpumalanga is leading in the preliminary data, says Dr Thobile Mbengashe, Chief Director of the HIV and AIDS and STIs programme in the national Health Department. 

CHIETA member companies in Durban are invited to apply to take part in a CHIETA-funded Strategic HIV/AIDS Workplace Programme facilitated by Redpeg.
 

The programme commences from 03 August 2011, and applications close 29 July 2011. For more information and an application form, please call Sandra Ncube on (011) 476 5355 or email sandra@redpeg.co.za.

Redpeg is proud to announce that our full accreditation status with the Services SETA has been extended until September 2014. The recently received notification from the Services SETA confirms Redpeg's commitment to providing quality unit standards-based HIV/AIDS-related training programmes.

Redpeg Training Schedule 2011