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Mark Heywood
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MARK HEYWOOD
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| 1999 |
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 In this episode the Beat It! team looked at what was withholding government from making antiretroviral treatment readily available to the HIV positive South Africans that could not afford to buy this life saving medication themselves.
In this episode the Beat It! team looked at the state of HIV/AIDS advocacy in South Africa.
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| 2002 |
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Domestic workers in South Africa in the past have been tested for HIV without their consent. If these workers tested positive they would often be dismissed. In this Special Report we however met Veronica Xaba, who tested positive, disclosed her status to her employer and found support and understanding. Many employees were however not so lucky and so the insert goes on to show how the Employment Equity Act protects the rights of HIV positive workers.
In this Special Report we accompanied Zackie Achmat, Mathew Damane and others to Brazil to learn more about generic drug.
In this episode of Beat It! the Team exposed how funeral insurance companies discriminated against men and women who had passed away because of AIDS, placing strain on their bereaved families.
This episode, the last in this series, covered the TAC COSATU Treatment Congress that was held in Durban from the 27th to the 29th of June 2002. Numerous civil society and faith based organisations spoke with one voice and called for the roll-out of antiretroviral therapy in the public sector. |
| 2006 |
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 In this weeks episode of Siyayinqoba Beat It! 2006 we took a look at South Africa's current response to HIV prevention; ABC. ABC stands for Abstain, be faithful and condomise. There is a need to re-think this approach because South Africa's HIV infection rate is still on the increase despite our prevention efforts. The latest antenatal survey showed that over 30% of pregnant women are testing HIV positive and six million people are now living with HIV. Clearly, ABC is not working. We hear what Mrs. Mnguni, a guidance teacher from Daveyton and her pupils have to say about HIV prevention strategies. We also headed to International Microbicides Conference to hear the thinking there.
In South Africa we have a policy of voluntary counselling and testing. However, many people die because they test too late. Their CD4 counts are very low, giving the ARVs less time to work effectively. In the past when treatment was not available, VCT was important to protect people from stigma, but since the roll-out of ARVs, many people are questioning whether VCT and written consent is the best policy for HIV prevention and treatment. We are joined by Justice Edwin Cameron who believes that VCT slows down the response to HIV and Mark Heywood, Director of the AIDS Law Project who believes that testing must remain voluntary and pre and post test counselling must remain.
 On this tape covering the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto Mark Heywood tells a tale of two countries: China and South Africa and looks at what the cost of a lack of leadership around HIV/AIDS meant in South Africa and what a lack of political leadership can mean in China in the next few years.The tape also covers the protests at the infamous South African government's stand which displayed beetroot, garlic and lemons more prominently than ARVs.
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| Documentaries |
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Patient Abuse follows the events leading up to the formation of the Treatment Action Campaign and their struggles to access affordable quality treatment for all South Africans, by challenging the patent laws protecting the profits of multinational drug companies. Patient Abuse tells of how the Treatment Action Campaign grew from a handful of people on the steps of St Georges Cathedral to an organisation of thousands with support from activists around the globe. In April of 2001 the TAC was victorious when the PMA withdrew it's case.
Media, Method, Message follows the story of Beat It! the worlds first HIV/AIDS magazine programme. Narrated by the shows co-creator and director Jack Lewis, we see how Beat It! worked towards removing the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS and addressed the concerns of real people living with AIDS through documentary inserts and an in studio HIV+ support group.
The Treatment Action Campaign “in less than five years of existence moved a nation, shifted government policy and advanced the rights of people with HIV everywhere in the world… TAC’s struggle grows out of the best traditions of the anti-apartheid movement. TAC will be a shining light for citizen action for decades to come.” - Graca Machel, on presenting TAC with the Nelson Mandela, Health and Human Rights Award in 2002.
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