South Africa News

Marking World TB Day 2011, South Africa’s Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, gave South Africa's fight against TB a major boost when he unveiled a new TB diagnosis innovation, the GeneXpert machine. The machine tests for TB much faster and more accurately than microscopic tests that are used to diagnose the disease, which could take between three to five months to produce results. This new technology is able to complete TB testing in 2hrs. The equipment has been purchased to improve turn-around times in the testing of the human specimen of TB.

On the occasion to mark the World AIDS Day (December 1, 2010), the Deputy President Mr Kgalema Motlanthe and Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi in their address to the nation in Mpumalanga Province commended South Africans who have heeded the “Presidential Call for Action” to stop the transmission of new infections by taking the simple step of taking a blood test to check for the presence of HIV infection in their bodies.

Johannesburg, 30 March 2004 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) has welcomed the South African government's commitment to African Traditional Medicine in the health care delivery system.

Speaking on Tuesday at the African Traditional Medicine Conference in Johannesburg , WHO country representative, Dr Welile Shasha, said that official recognition and respect of traditional medicine was the right step towards integration into national health systems and services.

22 January 2002  -- Johannesburg - The World Health Organization (WHO) is ready to assist South Africa in efforts to establish health at the centre of sustainable development initiatives, ahead of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) to be held in Johannesburg in August.

This is the view of the Liaison Officer of the WHO's local office in Pretoria, Dr Welile Shasha, who said the Organization will stress the central role of health in the development process, and the linkages between health and poverty reduction in the months leading up to the WSSD.