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Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected people in Africa, where 80% of HIV-positive tuberculosis cases and deaths occur.

A point-of-care rapid diagnostic test for TB has been developed by a multinational team of scientists led by researchers at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva announced new recommendations for a shortened treatment regimen for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients – just nine months compared to the current 24-month treatment standard used worldwide.

A flexible and inexpensive ring that is inserted into the vagina, where it slowly releases an antiviral drug, helped protect African women against contracting H.I.V. from their sexual partners, researchers said Monday in reports on two major studies that included more than 4,500 women.

TB is a curable and treatable disease, yet it was accountable for the deaths of 1.5 million people in 2014. Its effects are felt in all parts of the world – including the UK – and it poses real challenges for public health efforts globally.

Pregnant women in South Africa are urged to avoid going to countries where the Zika virus is endemic as the Americas scramble to control the spread of the mosquito-borne virus.

Zika virus is spread to people through mosquito bites. The most common symptoms of Zika virus disease are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting from several days to a week. Severe disease requiring hospitalisation is uncommon.

The 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health welcomed over 4,000 delegates from some 130 countries and hosted record number of sessions over the five-day scientific programme. Webcasts of the plenaries, oral abstracts and symposia are now available for viewing online.

We kicked off 2016 talking to a number of you about how data becomes information and how information can change the health service. Whether collecting data on diseases, facilitating the sharing of data between providers and patients or using it to bring quality care to remote areas, data-driven mHealth and eHealth initiatives are making a real difference to healthcare in Africa.

Though Zika was first discovered in 1947 (in the Zika forest in Uganda), it hasn't bothered humans much in all these years. ``There have only been about 14 or 15 cases documented until 2007,`` said Dr. Marcos Espinal, the director of communicable diseases at PAHO (the regional World Health Organization). That's when the first big Zika outbreak was reported, in the Yap Island in Micronesia. Other Pacific Islands — Fiji, Vanuatu — have had periodic outbreaks since.

There are 6.59 million people living with HIV in South Africa, making it the single biggest cause of premature death and disability in the country. An estimated 136 817 people died from HIV in 2014. The WHO estimates that there were 72 000 deaths in PLHIV in 2014 in which the fatal event was TB.

JPS Africa is launching a bloodless, injection-less and painless method of male circumcision and sub-dermal contraceptive implants. The new circumcision technology aims to assist South Africa in reaching the target of conducting 4.3 million male medical circumcisions by December 2016.

In 2014, more than 9 million people became ill with TB and 1.5 million died, making it the world’s leading infectious killer.3 Worldwide over 2 billion people are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes TB, comprising a source of the illness that must be addressed if we are to be successful in ending the disease.

Tuberculosis (TB) in all its forms is a major occupational hazard for healthcare workers (HCWs) worldwide. The transmission of drug-sensitive and drug-resistant (DR) strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis occurs through infected droplets aerosolised by patients with active pulmonary TB.

Accurate surveillance data are paramount to effective TB control. The Republic of South Africa’s National TB Control Program (NTP) has conducted TB surveillance since 1995 and adopted the Electronic TB Register (ETR) in 2005. This evaluation aimed to determine the completeness and reliability of data in the Republic of South Africa’s TB Surveillance System.