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 This 2004 Siyayinqoba Beat It! series was broadcast on SABC1. With Jason Wessenaar as the presenter, this fourth series' Support Group was comprised of some old and some new members. Once again Dr Nombulelo Madala was the resident doctor. At the end of each episode Jason summarised each episode's content with a ‘Things we should remember' section. In this first episode the team looked at opportunistic infections and the need to treat them as soon as possible. It went on to show the benefits of being treatment literate: Treatment literacy allows you to demand the right drugs; the drugs that will work.
In this episode of Siyayinqoba Beat It! the team discussed sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The inserts focused on the prevalence of STIs amongst the youth which in turn got the support group to discuss how prevention messaging can be improved to bring about behaviour change in the youth when it comes to sex.
The Siyayinqoba Beat It! Support Group talked about the rights of HIV positive people at work in this episode. As an example the team used workers at a mine of Anglo Gold Ashanti. With the help of legal practitioners, we learnt the importance of understanding our rights and how they can help us in the workplace. Fatima Hassan, from the AIDS Law Project, joined the group and helped to shed a bit of light on how the rights of people living with HIV can be defended. Later Jason summarised the episode with the week's ‘Things we should remember'.
In this week's episode of Siyayinqoba Beat It! we heard how teenagers dealt with discrimination when disclosing to their families and peers. Nwabisa Njaba, a HIV positive learner joined the Siyayinqoba Beat It! Support Group in studio to share her experiences on when and how she disclosed her status and what challenges she had to face at school.
Treatment Literacy and drug adherence are two related requirements that improve the success of the antiretroviral roll-out. This was reaffirmed by the Siyayinqoba Beat It! Team. What however are the additional challenges that HIV positive children face in firstly accessing ART and then taking it correctly. To help answer these questions the team met up with Joyce Kepe and her daughter Caroline in Mbekweni, Paarl. Dr Nombulelo then joined the group to explain the important things caregivers can do to prevent infections in HIV positive children.
In this episode the Siyayinqoba Beat It! support group learnt that there are quite a few educators who find it difficult to disclose their HIV status' at work or at home. So the team went to Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape to meet Nomachule Tayabi who shared her difficulties as an HIV positive educator. The support group was then joined by Dr David Mbetse, a SADTU HIV/AIDS officer, who encouraged educators to be open about their HIV positive status.
Nomandla Yako brought her son, Thamsanqa, to the Siyayinqoba Beat It! support group to share the difficulties she went through when Thamie was a bit younger. She went on to say that since he started antiretroviral therapy his health improved drastically. In the insert we also got to meet the nine year old Jady Grasland who had had horrible disfiguring facial warts until she started taking ARVs.
In this episode of Siyayinqoba Beat It! the support group discussed antiretroviral therapy with studio guests Dr Linda Gail Bekker and Sister Lulu Mtwisha. The guests explained the importance drug adherence.
The Siyayinqoba Beat It! Team investigated the role social grants play in the response to the HIV epidemic. The team met with Thelile in Tugela, KwaZulu Natal who had recently accessed social grants. Thelile was using the grants to help take care of her siblings after her parents had passed away from AIDS. The social grant system was then discussed further with in house guest Dr Nalega Constance Kganakga from the Department of Social Development.
This tenth episode in the 2004 series of Siyayinqoba Beat It! focused on AIDS orphans; children who have lost their parents because of HIV/AIDS. We met little Andisiwe and her sister and heard about the hardships that they went through and how they are being taken care of. Cati Vawda from the Children's Rights Centre furthered the discussion around these vulnerable children as the episode's in house guest.
In this episode we followed Anthony Fernandes and Busisiwe Maqungo, two support group members, to a fresh produce store where they bought all the essential food types for a healthy balanced diet. Dr Nombulelo Madala joined the support group to discuss the important food types and why an HIV positive person needs a balanced diet. ‘Uncle' John Vollenhoven also showed us his food garden initiative in Atlantis in the Western Cape.
The Siyayinqoba Beat It! team followed Busisiwe's story about the death of her daughter Nomazizi; how her loss changed her perception of HIV and how she rose from that challenge. Dr Nombulelo Madala was in the studio again to answer questions about the prevention-of-mother-to-child-transmission programme.
South Africa has one of the highest incidences of sexual violence and rape in the world. This along with the highest incidence of HIV in the world means that sexual violence and rape in South Africa carries the added strain of possible HIV infection. In this episode of Siyayinqoba Beat It! the team looked at post-exposure prophylaxis and how to access it.
Fana Khaba, aka DJ Khabzela, disclosed his HIV positive status publicly on the popular youth radio station, Yfm in May 2003. Khabzela the host of the most popular show on the station chose however not to take antiretrovirals once his HIV had progressed to full blown AIDS. Instead he opted for various other unproven remedies (supported by the South African Minister of Health) that would hold no benefits for his ailing health. In this episode the Siyayinqoba Beat It! discussed why people opt for unproven remedies and asked what can be done to ensure that fraudulent claims and false cures are exposed and restricted.
In September 2000 Linda Pindani, a high school learner at the time, was diagnosed as HIV positive. According to Pindani he was likely to have been infected at the age of fifteen at a party, where he and his friends got drunk and slept with multiple girls without using protection. In this episode of the 2004 series, Pindani, a young man entering into manhood who had also progressed to stage four of the disease, shared his experiences of his traditional Xhosa circumcision ceremony with the viewers. In the next episode he discussed his choices and experiences with the support group.
In September 2000 Linda Pindani, a high school learner at the time, was diagnosed as HIV positive. According to Pindani he was likely to have been infected at the age of fifteen at a party, where he and his friends got drunk and slept with multiple girls without using protection. In episode 16 of this series, Pindani, a young man entering into manhood who has also progressed to stage four of the disease, shared his experiences of his traditional Xhosa circumcision ceremony with the viewers. In this episode he discussed his choices and experiences with the support group members.
Have men who have sex with men been ignored in our response to HIV in Africa? Statistics say that the majority of people infected with HIV they are heterosexuals. Twenty one years ago when HIV was discovered it was mainly a homosexual disease. Has the experience of gay men in particular been almost forgotten because of these facts? This episode of Siyayinqoba Beat It! set out to find out.
There are many people in our communities who are sick with AIDS defining illnesses. The burden of care falls on women and children, who often can't cope. This is where community based care is needed the most. But what exactly is community base care? Whose responsibility is it to provide the care? Siyayinqoba visited the Stanger Centre in KwaZulu Natal to see what community based care involves.
How do we deal with disclosure to our partners? Should we disclose to people we have casual sex encounters with? Does being HIV positive affect a woman's right to have children? How do relationships between an HIV positive person and an HIV negative person work? These are some of the questions that were discussed in this episode of Siyayinqoba Beat It!
Many South Africans use and consult traditional healers before they consult modern doctors. For this reason co-operation between the two systems of belief and practice need to be promoted to ensure that patients get the best possible treatment that is available. In this episode of Siyayinqoba Beat It! the team looked at what role traditional healers can and should play in the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
In this episode the Siyayinqoba team discussed the role the media plays in the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The team focused on two books and a movie which they felt the viewers would find informative and enjoyable. First, they spoke to Judge Edwin Cameron about his book Witness to AIDS. Then they discussed a children's book called Brenda has a Dragon in her Blood by Hijltje Vink. The book is about the life of a young girl who is living with HIV. Finally the team revealed the critically acclaimed movie Yesterday to the viewers.
A recent study found that fifteen percent of healthcare workers in South Africa are HIV positive. In this episode of Siyayinqoba Beat It! we found out how this is affecting healthcare services? We also met Alida Wagener, a nurse from Orkney in the North West Province, who became infected with HIV after a needle prick accident.
In Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape, a pioneering project showed that when healthcare workers and the community work together, they can implement life-saying antiretroviral medication just as well as more well-resourced urban areas.
What can companies realistically do to accommodate the health and wellness needs of their HIV positive employees? What programmes should companies put in place to help address the impact of the HIV epidemic in the lives of their employees? In this episode of Siyayinqoba Beat It! we looked at what clothing and textile manufacturing companies were doing and the challenges they faced in trying to accommodate HIV positive workers. We also looked at what SACTWU was doing to assist companies in making a difference.
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