Health

The Chronic Medication Distribution Project, which was launched to reduce long queues at clinics and improve maternal and child health, are amongst the achievements the Gauteng Provincial Government can boast about. This is according to MEC for Health Brian Hlongwa, who on Tuesday reflected on the departments achievements over the past six months.

More than 330,000 lives were lost to HIV/AIDS in South Africa between 2000 and 2005 because a feasible and timely antiretroviral (ARV) treatment program was not implemented, according to researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health. The study was published online by the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS). In addition, an estimated 35,000 babies were born with HIV during that same period in the country because a feasible mother-to-child transmission prophylaxis program using nevirapine (an anti-AIDS drug) was not implemented, the authors write. The paper estimates the consequences of the HIV/AIDS policies followed by the South African government for a five-year period when neighboring countries ramped up their HIV-prevention programs. The paper may have broader implications for the evaluation of consequences of public health programs.

A collaborative project between the National Department of Health and the Initiative for Sub-district Support, as part Health Systems Trust

The main objective in undertaking this research study is to develop an instrument that will measure the satisfaction levels of clients utilising hospitals in South Africa. The client satisfaction tool (CS Tool) included in this guide drew on the experience of measuring client satisfaction at two district hospitals, East Griqualand and Usher Memorial Hospital in Kokstad and Gordonia Hospital in Upington. Experience was also drawn from a number of international studies, particularly from Ghana, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

The World Health Report 2008, launched on 14 October, critically assesses the way that health care is organized, financed, and delivered in rich and poor countries around the world. The WHO report documents a number of failures and shortcomings that have left the health status of different populations, both within and between countries, dangerously out of balance. The World Health Report sets out a way to tackle inequities and inefficiencies in health care, and its recommendations need to be heeded, said WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan at the launch of the report in Almaty, Kazakhstan. A world that is greatly out of balance in matters of health is neither stable nor secure.

The focus this month for Nursing Update is breast cancer and mental health. Last month I noted that in the continuum of womens health, lesbian health has essentially been left off the agenda. In my training, if one thing was mentioned about lesbian health it was around breast cancer and that lesbians and nuns were vulnerable! (those who may not breast feed before the age of 35). While nuns might not have sex, lesbians certainly do have sex. The other remnant of my training was that gays and lesbians may need mental healthcare!

Community Participation (CP) is the cornerstone of the Primary Health Care (PHC) approach and a central tenet of current government health policy. However, the successful imlpementation of community participation is bedevilled by differences in the understanding of what is meant by community participation and what motivates health services to seek CP.

There is an ubundance of health information in South Africa. Information providers such as medical libraries, statutory councils, university departments, government and non-government organisations have a wealth of information. However health workers, particularly those in rural areas, are often remote from these information sources. Consequently, health workers still find difficulty in understanding developments in health care, making clinical and management decisions or building intersectoral partnerships.

When her baby turned blue, Nivetha Biju rushed the child to the emergency room of an Indian hospital and watched helplessly as the baby lost consciousness because the nurses on duty had no idea what to do. Eventually a doctor saved the baby's life, but many patients are not so lucky in India and in other developing countries where a scarcity of doctors and trained nurses means there is often no helping hand in times of need. Health systems [in developing countries] are on the brink of collapse due to the lack of skilled personnel, said Ezekiel Nukuro, an official with the World Health Organization. In some countries, deaths from preventable diseases are rising and life expectancy is dropping, he said.

The Department of Health says its policy on the treatment of Tuberculosis patients, especially those who have Multi-Drug Resistant TB (MDR-TB) and Extreme-Drug Resistant (XDR-TB), will not be changed in any way.