Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital

Crime-hit hospitals in Gauteng should have security as soon as March, provincial health minister Brian Hlongwa announced on Wednesday. We have completed an audit aimed at identifying risks at health facilities, he said during a Gauteng legislature social-cluster briefing outlining priorities in the coming year.

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has spoken out against children's rights violations at Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, where newborn babies were put in a cardboard box.

The Wits medical student who was raped at the Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital has laid a charge against her alleged assailant, police said on Friday. Superintendent Thembi Nkwashu said the student gave a statement to the police late on Thursday afternoon and laid a charge of rape.

Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang will meet HIV/Aids experts in Johannesburg on Thursday to discuss reports of resistance to the drug nevirapine, her spokesperson said.

The growing need for a wider African research response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic has led to the creation of a virtual institute at one of South Africa's leading universities. The concept of the University of Witwatersrand AIDS Research Institute is not to duplicate existing initiatives, but to coordinate research into the disease among the university faculties, Professor James McIntyre, founder of the institute, said at the launch on Tuesday. The institute will not employ any researchers. Instead, it will connect research projects such as the HIV/AIDS Perinatal Clinic at Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital and the Centre for Health Policy in Johannesburg to foster interdisciplinary research. Research teams will work on various project themes, including basic biomedical research, prevention interventions, and social, economic and political issues. Research into policy development and implementation will also be conducted by the university. More details on the institute: http://www.wits.ac.za (Source: Integrated Regional Information Network, 15 May 2003)

The RHRU is seeking to recruit an enthusiastic and experienced candidate to work on the HSV2 Research Programme. The successful candidate will work directly under the supervision of the Director. Interested candidates should please send their CV’s and motivation letter marked MICROBICIDES RESEARCH NURSE, to: The Human Resources Department, Reproductive Health Research Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, PO Bertsham 2013, on fax (011) 933-1227 or email applications@rhrujhb.co.za. Closing date: 28 April 2003.

All state hospitals in South Africa's Gauteng province will provide the antiretroviral drug nevirapine to HIV-positive pregnant women this year, the provincial government announced this week. Gauteng, the thriving commercial hub of the country, is now the fourth province to defy government policy by making the drug available. But doctors and staff at some of the existing 18 pilot sites raised concerns that logistical problems could hamper the smooth roll-out of the programme. Kalafong Hospital - situated on the outskirts of Pretoria, near the township of Atteridgeville - is one of the two pilot sites in the capital. Within the next 100 days, the programme will be launched at a third hospital in the city. The hospital has been providing nevirapine to HIV positive pregnant women since June 2001. One of the problems has been the low numbers of women choosing to undergo HIV testing. Only 45 percent of women attending the antenatal clinic were tested, while other pilot sites tested up to 80 percent of their patients. As a referral hospital, many of the women who came to the hospital were already high-risk patients and had not received adequate care at local primary health centres. According to Sabina, one of the two lay counsellors at the site, more voluntary testing and counselling (VCT) services should be provided at local clinics to encourage more women to be tested. Educating women about nevirapine is critical, as many patients incorrectly assume that the drug will cure them as well as their babies. When they found out that the drug was not an AIDS cure, many lost the will to live and take care of their babies, said Sabina. Counsellors at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital's Perinatal HIV research unit in Soweto have also dealt with this misconception. The issue of feeding options for infants was a potential problem, according to Dr Jeffreys. Infant formula was provided for six months at Kalafong hospital and 80 percent of the women chose this option. Some women however feared disapproval from their spouses and families and chose to breastfeed, despite the risks. The heavy workload of the programme was a major problem for some pilot sites. HIV testing took a long time and could not be assigned to junior staff, noted Jeffreys. Integrating the nevirapine roll-out in existing antenatal clinics could prove to be a challenge for the provincial government, as the staff would be overworked, possibly becoming hostile towards the service. The Western Cape government solved the problem by contracting NGOs to employ counsellors and by employing extra nurses at clinics. The donor-funded Perinatal HIV research pilot site at Chris Hani Baragwanath has trained dedicated staff, which concentrates solely on MTCT. [This Item is Delivered to the English Service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: Irin@ocha.unon.org or Web: http://www.irinnews.org] Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2002

The Department of Health is to use its volunteer programme during April this year to improve the quality of care it provides, the department announced on Wednesday (16 January). At the African National Congress' 90th birthday celebrations in Durban earlier this month President Thabo Mbeki said 2002 would be the year of the volunteer for reconstruction and development. He said that during April, volunteers should assist the government in the delivery of health services. Mngadi said the department was still drafting a nation-wide programme outlining various activities for the month. The document would be made public before the end of February. Tshabalala-Msimang would also be involved in the programme. Mngadi said HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases were among the challenges the department would address in April. (Source: SAPA, 16 January 2002)

The Reproductive Health Research Unit in collaboration with the Health Systems Trust, and the South African Medical Research Council, offers a four-week short course in Reproductive Health Research Methods. The purpose of this course is to support and improve reproductive health policy, plan programmes by building capacity and develop a network of regional expertise in reproductive health research.

For more information and applications forms, please contact the course co ordinator : Nomsa Mtimkulu Reproductive Health Research Unit Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital P.O. Bertsham 2013 – SOUTH AFRICA Tel : +27 (0)11 933-1228 ext. 224 Fax : +27(0)11 933-1227 E-mail address : n.mtimkulu@rhrujhb.co.za Closing date : 30th March 2001.

Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital will go online, which should speed up patient treatment and limit the possibility of making wrong diagnoses. The hospital's CEO, Dr Reg Broekmann, said the innovation was made possible by medicom, Bara's computerised registration system. He said being online would cut the time patients spend in queues and reduce duplication and errors. Patients' privacy would not be compromised, he said. Only authorised personnel would have access to the records. Broekmann said the system was already operational in the maternity ward and in all in-patient wards. Furthermore, the hospital expects to collect an additional R1-million a year in outstanding payments. The intention is to have the system up and running by July. (Source: The Star, 6 April 20)