News & Events

We all make countless assumptions every day. We assume that in the morning the kettle and toaster will do their jobs, that the car will start or that our train will arrive at the station. We make assumptions about our partners, our family members, our colleagues and our friends, and about strangers. Our assumptions about our environment and the people around us are often based on nothing more than irrational notions, concepts, beliefs and attitudes which are very rarely based on fact.
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The latest milestone in the 30-year battle against HIV, is Monday’s approval of Truvada®  by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the prevention of HIV transmission. Truvada®  is the first anti-retroviral (ARV) drug to gain approval as a preventive measure for healthy HIV negative people who are at high risk of acquiring HIV through sexual activity, such as those who have HIV-infected partners.

South African guidelines for the preventative use of HIV medication by men who have sex with men who are not infected with the virus are to be published in the peer-reviewed academic publication, Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine, this month.

The treatment, pre-exposure prophylaxis (Prep), consists of an antiretroviral (ARV) pill that is taken daily by HIV-negative people to lower their chances of becoming infected with the virus.

While consistent use of condoms remain your best defence against HIV and other sexually transmitted infection (STIs), evidence has emerged that some water-based lubricants may be harmful to your rectum. This applies equally to top-of-the-range, expensive imported brands and locally manufactured lubricants. 

These findings emerged when researchers trying to develop rectal microbicides started poking around and asking questions about the effects of sexual lubricants on the mucosal lining of the rectum

Recreational drug use can make people more likely to be infected by HIV. Also, for people taking antiretroviral medications (ARVs) to fight HIV, there can be some serious interactions between drugs and ARVs. These interactions can lead to under- or overdoses of ARVs or recreational drugs. Some of these may be fatal.