The Charlotte Maxeke hospital in Johannesburg today became the first in South Africa to have its own school playground. Funded by Medscheme, it is hoped that the playground will bring some normality to the lives of chronically and terminally ill children.

The playground was specially planned and built to avoid sharp surfaces, metal corners or pipes to take into account the physical frailties of children susceptible to cuts, bruises or more severe injuries.

“A panel of medical staff and specialists in designing play areas contributed ideas and the result has been what is probably South Africa’s most expensive – but safest play area,” said Andre Meyer, CEO of Medscheme.

Health officials are considering a new strategy that they say could effectively kill off HIV/AIDS within 40 years.

CSIR researchers are a step closer to providing TB sufferers with a once-a-week medicinal regime rather than their current daily doses.

The health department will start a national swine flu immunisation campaign on March 15, ahead of the Soccer World Cup in June, the health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, the Archbishop of Durban, this morning sent out a strong message to all South African leaders, asking them, “Is your sexual morality making you a worthy role model for the youth?”

The Health Portfolio Committee was delighted to receive feedback that the City of Cape Town, in partnership with the Provincial Department of Health and TB/HIV Care Association has received a UN award for its fight against Tuberculosis (TB).

Scientists have finally discovered the structure of a key enzyme found in HIV and similar viruses, a breakthrough that has crucial implications for future HIV treatments.

Investigators from Dartmouth Medical School (DMS) have reported results of a clinical trial showing that a new vaccine against tuberculosis, Mycobacterium vaccae (MV), is effective in preventing tuberculosis in people with HIV infection.

HIV testing among men has increased considerably over the last 12 months, increasing from 24 to 60 percent, a nationwide survey has found.

Professor Ken Boffard, a trauma surgeon at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, has been elected world President of the International Society of Surgery.

A method for diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) that harnesses technology used in airport security could lead to more reliable screening.

South Africa is one of nine African countries that have managed to slash malaria-induced illness and death by half, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The percentage of HIV-positive mothers who pass the virus to their newborn babies in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal Province has dropped by nearly two-thirds since dual antiretroviral (ARV) therapy was introduced.

The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) celebrates its 11th anniversary today with an international award for outstanding human rights work for people living with HIV-Aids.

President Jacob Zuma met with American businessman Bill Gates on Wednesday to discuss issues relating to the country's HIV/Aids pandemic, the Presidency said.

South Africa announced ambitious new plans Tuesday for earlier and expanded treatment for HIV-positive babies and pregnant women, a change that could save hundreds of thousands of lives in the nation hardest hit by the virus that causes AIDS.

President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday announced new measures to expand South Africa's response to HIV/Aids.

South Africa has more people infected with the Aids virus than any other country, but it also has a new government determined to end the crisis, the head of the United Nations Aids program said Monday.

President Jacob Zuma "is committed to making change happen," UNAids executive director Michel Sidibe said.

An independent health watchdog will be introduced by April to ensure clinics and hospitals adhere to quality standards, Deputy Health Minister Dr Molefi Sefularo said in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

"There is a new man in South Africa," proclaims a new ad splashed across South African media, aiming to transform ideas about sexuality and to enlist the nation's men in the fight against Aids.

The number of deaths in South Africa is declining for the first time, after more than a decade of annual increases. A report released by Statistics South Africa this week, shows that mortality in South Africa declined by 1,8% from 2006 to 2007.

President Jacob Zuma's speech on Aids in Parliament this week marked the demise of state-supported denialism, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) said on Friday.

Forty new Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz ambulances will be released next week in the North West in an effort to improve emergency medical service delivery, the department of health and social development said on Wednesday.

A South African doctor has won the Royal Society Award for HIV and TB co-infection research, the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre said on Wednesday.

Albertina Sisulu and Jordan's Princess Haya Al Hussein on Wednesday opened a "care home" in Johannesburg for children from around Africa who have undergone heart surgery.