JOHN VOLLENHOVEN

Siyayinqoba Beat It! 2004 Episode 1 - Opportunistic Infections

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.

Siyayinqoba Beat It! 2004 Episode 3 - Beating HIV at work

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'.

Siyayinqoba Beat It! 2004 Episode 8 - ART in Gugulethu

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.

Siyayinqoba Beat It! 2004 Episode 12 - Positive living beats HIV

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.

Siyayinqoba Beat It! 2004 Episode 20 - Sex and the Positive Person

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!

Siyayinqoba Beat It! 2004 Episode 26 - Wellness in the workplace

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.