Durban

Information about all aspects of this conference to be held in Durban, South Africa in July

Durban is planning to become the first city in the country to set up its own environmental cancer surveillance unit. The move coincides with a national process to declare cancer a reportable disease and improve data collection on the disease, which kills or disfigures several thousand South Africans every year. Ten years ago The Mercury uncovered evidence of potentially high cancer rates in children in Durban's southern industrial area. Official figures suggest that at least 50 000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed around the country every year, although these statistics are recognised as an underestimation of the true picture. The aim of the new surveillance unit (or registry) is to monitor the number and different types of cancer cases in the Durban area by gathering accurate information on where, how and why the disease occurs, and the extent to which air pollution and other environmental risks might add to the cancer burden. Siva Chetty, the deputy head of pollution control for the eThekwini Health Department, said the plan was to start collecting information on cancer cases in Durban by next year.

South Durban residents have again called for action against local oil refineries after a damning report was released detailing the ill health of the region's children.

The Each One Reach Five campaign lies at the heart of a national HIV-testing drive running over two months at 13 higher education institutions. The drive has been initiated by the Higher Education HIV/AIDS programme, a joint undertaking of the Department of Education and Higher Education South Africa. It is funded by the European Union.

South Africa's most comprehensive study to date on the links between air pollution and poor health has confirmed that children living in the polluted southern industrial area of Durban have a substantially greater risk of developing asthma compared with children living north of the city.

Asked whether sex with a virgin would cure AIDS, an alarming five percent of 2 000 people surveyed agreed, particularly in the coloured community.

Closing date: 14 April 2006

We are seeking to appoint interns in the field of Health Information Systems (HIS) and Monitoring and Evaluation (M and E), including the District Health Information System (DHIS) software.

Durban should brace itself for the arrival of Tik (crystal meth), a highly addictive drug plaguing the Western Cape, the Medical Research Council has warned.

Due to the increasing numbers of AIDS-related deaths, burial space in municipal cemeteries in the South African port city of Durban has become hard to find.

The following report details the endeavours of the Community Mental Health Project (CMHP), in partnership with service providers and community members, to develop a system for integrating mental health into primary health into primary health care in the KwaDedangendlale community in KwaZulu Natal from 1994 to 1996.