Labor

Contrary to popular belief, disability is not about heroic individuals overcoming tragic circumstances. Nor is it about dependency of people with impairments on a few open-minded, charitable individuals or institutions. These images are often reinforced through the media, which perpetuates stereotypical images of disabled people. Disability is about the struggle of those who are excluded and sidelined to challenge the dominant hegemony of society.

This is the first review conducted in South Africa on research addressing the implementation of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act. A systematic and detailed methodology was undertaken to identify published and on-going research. Of the 86 identified studies, 41 were reviewed, 13 were forthcoming studies, three were published but unavailable, 6 focused on the process of advocacy reform and 23 were excluded as they did not meet the inclusion criteria. A framework developed for the review looked service and community factors affecting access of potential and current abortion service users.

Introduction

This report documents the findings and conclusions of the first district expenditure review run for the Mt. Currie health district. The year under review is the government financial year, April 1997 to March 1998. Mt. Currie is a health district bordering on the Eastern Cape, in the southernmost part of the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province. Its close proximity to the Eastern Cape border, and the regions geography, have meant that the main towns in the district, Kokstad and Matatiele, have for years acted as commercial centres for rural areas extending into the Eastern Cape, or what was formerly known as the Transkei. This fact, together with the history of the regions administration, means that the health services in the district are well frequented by residents of the Eastern Cape. These cross-border flows made it essential to calculate the district catchment population, which was estimated at 247 537 people in 1997/98.

A full range of health services are rendered in the district, including primary health care services, environmental health services, district hospital level services and laboratory services. A number of health services to the district are still run directly by the province, or the regional office. In addition, as in many districts, there are two main public sector authorities running health services namely local governments (municipalities) and the KZN provincial government. The two local authorities in the district are Matatiele and Kokstad.

In the Mount Frere Health District, the District Management Team (DMT) has made considerable improvements in the control and monitoring of vehicles. However, despite this, there is a common cry from programme managers, clinic supervisors, doctors and administrative staff that there is a shortage of transport for them to carry out their functions adequately. Because transport is so critical to so many functions, it is not surprising that there is a relative lack of transport, compared to needs. It is therefore important that districts make sure that they use their limited transport resources efficiently and effectively.

This guide attempts to assist health workers to find and use electronic health information resources, and describes some of the services offered by HealthLink.

This study focuses on a district in an urban area in the Western Cape, district that already renders the scope of services outlined in the Core Package. An assessment of the cost of rendering PHC services is thus carried out from an actual, by opposition to a theoretical, basis.