Hypertension

ART Guidelines 2013

Published by: 
Department of Health (South Africa)

The ART guidelines deal with Fixed Dose Combinations medications and introduces fixed dose combination (FDC) ART for patients initiated with ART for the first time; introduce FDC ART for HIV positive pregnant women irrespective of CD4 count during pregnancy and during the breastfeeding period; phased introduction of FDC to patients with other co-morbidities (diabetes, hypertension and respiratory diseases, including TB); phased introduction of FDC to patients who require switching due to drugs toxicity or switching from Stavudine (d4T) based regime and phased introduction of FDC to patients who are stable of ART and VL suppressed.

PMTCT Guidelines 2013

Published by: 
Department of Health (South Africa)

This document is an update of the national PMTCT Policy and Guidelines 2010. It aims to provide continued guidance towards a reduction in the vertical transmission of HIV, building on work done since the inception of the programme and the 2010 Policy and Guidelines document. In line with the international standards for a comprehensive strategy, the PMTCT policy recognises that in order to prevent HIV among women and children, the four elements of PMTCT are integral.

These include:
*             Primary prevention of HIV, especially among women of childbearing age;

Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases: Guidelines for primary health care in low resource settings

Published by: 
World Health Organization

The primary goal of the guideline is to improve the quality of care and the outcome in people with type 2 diabetes in low-resource settings. It recommends a set of basic interventions to integrate management of diabetes into primary health care. It will serve as basis for development of simple algorithms for use by health care staff in primary care in low-resource settings, to reduce the risk of acute and chronic complications of diabetes. The guideline was developed by a group of external and WHO experts, following the WHO process of guideline development. GRADE methodology was used to assess the quality of evidence and decide the strength of the recommendations.

Community Based Situational Analysis: Maternal and Neonatal Follow Up Care

Published by: 
Health Systems Trust
Reduction of mortality and morbidity of both the mother and the newborn have been identified as priority areas needing urgent attention by the Department of Health. The maternal mortality ratio for South Africa was estimated in the South African Demographic and Health Survey of 1998 to be 150/100 000 births. This rate is however, thought to be rising, as the estimate from the latest Saving Mothers Report places the estimate at 175-200/100 000 births. The extent of morbidity is not known but it is estimated that for every woman that dies of a pregnancy related complication, 20 more suffer from morbidity such as vesico-vaginal fistulae which may be severe and lead to long term disabilities.