Health e News
Dr Bulela Vava – Interim National Chairperson of the Public Oral Health Forum, shares a first-hand account of the barriers disabled people face when accessing oral health care. I am reminded how the right to health care services for people living with disabilities is not one enjoyed by all. Not too long ago, I consulted with Tshepo*, a teenage boy with cerebral palsy, and his mother. They had been referred to our centre for a consultation with the hope that Tshepo could be assessed and treated for a problem that had been plaguing him for a while. Tshepo, was suffering from a terrible toothache, which negatively affected his ability to eat and communicate well. My assessment revealed rampant dental decay and localised dental abscesses in the mouth. It was clear that the only reasonable course of action would be to have all his teeth removed, but there was one
Drug companies must make fundamental changes to their core business to address Research and Development (R&D) gaps and access to existing medicines for women’s sexual and reproductive health in lower-income countries, global health equity advocates urge. Despite progress in women’s health and rights in the last 50 years, stark inequalities remain in access to contraceptives, health services to support safe pregnancy and birth, and treatment of sexual and reproductive diseases, the Access to Medicine Foundation highlights in a special report presented to industry representatives last week. According to the researchers, in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), such services often fail to meet minimum medical and human rights standards. “Our message with this report is that there’s a lot more to do at the company’s core business. Otherwise, we’re leaving a significant gap in the world, and we’re not solving inequity issues at all,” said Jayasree K. Iyer, CEO, Access to
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A clinic in Mathibestad in the North West is on the verge of collapse while it battles to keep its lights on during load shedding, leaving patients in need of emergency care stranded. The 24-hour clinic services more than five villages and struggles to stay open during the ongoing blackouts. Up to six hours are lost daily. Mantwa Gobene was turned away from the clinic while in labour. The 25-year-old had no referral letter from the Jubilee District Hospital in Hammanskraal in Gauteng. Once she arrived at the clinic, she was told there was no generator and couldn’t be admitted. “I struggled to get inside the premises because I went with an ordinary car and not an ambulance. They could’ve at least called an ambulance for me knowing that I couldn’t be helped at Jubilee,” said Gobene. Another mom shares her fear Zanele Xaba, 18, is praying that all
Take a moment to think about the people in your life and the types of relationships you have. The platonic relationship with your friend, the sexual relationship with your partner, and the working relationship with your colleague. Relationships come in all shapes and sizes. They can be positive or negative, difficult or easy, and involve sex or not – but all of them have a powerful impact on us. Many of us are taught very different things about sex at home, at school, through the media and other venues. Still, for many people, that sex education focuses on the moral aspects of sex or the repercussions of unprotected sex like unwanted pregnancies, STIs or HIV. What far too many of us aren’t taught about are relationships and sex. Sex and relationships Too few of us are taught that any relationship with another person should leave you feeling good about
Over the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact globally on countries’ national communicable disease programmes, crucially including the response to HIV/AIDS. Disruptions in treatment and prevention services may have contributed to around 1.5 million new HIV infections last year. A rigorous scale-up of health services by governments needs to go hand in hand with the active involvement of communities to get the global HIV response back on track. Drawing on our experience of more than two decades working with HIV and TB in South Africa, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) believes that community-led interventions such as those involving youth can significantly improve the uptake of health services and reduce the risk of HIV infection. Empower youth to fight HIV Young people can be highly effective drivers of social change. In the past ten years, there has been a global 46% reduction in new HIV
Global food price hikes may push parents to introduce cheaper meal options like maize meal, but they might incur longer costs, such as stunting because of poor nutrient intake. South Africa is not immune: recent reports from the Eastern Cape report more than 100 cases of acute malnutrition this year, with even a report of a mother feeding her child cool drink powder due to a lack of food in the household. Malnutrition is widespread. Reports indicate that malnutrition of children aged six to 18 months is growing in many countries and the shortcomings in this age range are difficult to replace later during childhood. The South African Demographic and Health survey reports that only 23% of toddlers aged 6-23 months are fed a diet considered adequate for infants and young children.. Stunting – a result of long-term inadequate nutrition – affects 27% of infants, particularly between 18 and
As residents in the Seshego township in Limpopo continue to experience water cuts, the threat of contracting waterborne diseases has caused an increased sense of fear. Taps in the township, which falls under the Polokwane municipality, have been dry for weeks. Residents left high and dry Mpho Baloyi, 28, said the situation has become unbearable at her RDP house at Extension 76, Seshego, due to the constant lack of water. “The stench is horrible when toilets do not flush. To avoid this, I go to the bush to answer when nature calls. I even go when I have to accompany my minor children,” said Baloyi. “At night, the bush is very dangerous, so I make sure all used water is collected and used for toilet flushing. Sometimes, we even pour our urine into containers to mix with contaminated water for toilets,” Baloyi told Health-e News. Moropa Chokoe* of Zone
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‘The rivers in Gauteng are a mess (because of repeated sewage spills), but the environment is not just some ‘by-the-way thing’ … Why are we so lenient on these municipalities?” Read Part One and Part Two. That was the question Gauteng provincial environment officer Mandla Zuma posed to fellow members of the country’s “Green Scorpions” Environmental Management Inspectorate last week. In short, Zuma was asking whether municipal leaders were taking the sewage crisis seriously, also noting that he had never heard of the National Treasury turning a blind eye to financial misdemeanours in government departments. “They deal with these matters. They correct and move on. So, maybe, we should set an example. We can’t keep talking about the same thing (municipal sewage pollution) all the time.” It was clearly a question on the minds of several colleagues who met in Muldersdrift, Gauteng, last week for the biennial lekgotla
Women’s participation in the economy took centre stage at the launch of this year’s 16 days of activism for no violence against women and children, which kicked off at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg earlier this afternoon. Led by the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, this year’s campaign highlights the importance of building women’s resilience by addressing barriers to socioeconomic opportunities and empowerment. Able to walk away With this focus, it is hoped that women will be economically empowered to walk away from abusive relationships. This focus is also in line with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, which seeks to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls by 2030. The UN reported that women accounted for 39% of the total employment in 2019 but for 45% of global employment losses in 2020. UN Women, on the other hand,
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The ambitious 24-hour daily service, including weekends at Limpopo clinics and primary health centres (CHCs) is hitting a snag due to a shortage of nurses and ancillary staff. Community members and health workers’ unions have since called for action in the province as the festive season looms. Ali Mokwepu of Letswatla village in the Senwabarana area is just one patient who’s had a harrowing experience. He was struck by an asthma attack earlier this month. “The attack was severe. I tried my inhalers, tablets and others but kept experiencing difficulty breathing. My daughter phoned an ambulance, but it never arrived. My neighbours then rushed me to the Ratshaatshaa Health Centre a few kilometres away,” said Mokwepu. “When we arrived just after 8pm, the gates were closed and the security guards informed us that the facility no longer operates at night. The last word I heard while writhing in the
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Many households in some of South Africa’s biggest cities have been facing water restrictions in recent times – sometimes lasting for days at a time. People have had to make tough choices. For example, if you have a bottle of water in your house, are you going to drink it or use it for flushing the toilet? Sanitation scientist Dr Preyan Arumugam-Nanoolal argues that, even without water restrictions, it simply doesn’t make sense to keep flushing drinkable water down the toilet. She and her colleagues have been evaluating alternative sanitation technologies. Ina Skosana had a conversation with her about this research and the innovations surrounding it. Describe South Africa’s sanitation landscape Around 65% of South Africa’s population have access to waterborne sanitation, such as flushing toilets connected to a sewer network, septic tank or conservancy tank. Another 19% have ventilated improved pit latrines, while 13% have pit toilets with
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Imagine living a healthy lifestyle. Eating well, exercising and never smoking, but hearing your doctor tell you that you have lung cancer. This is *Andy Long’s experience. In 2017, he started feeling off-balance, as though he was drunk. The diagnosis came back as a brain tumour caused by lung cancer. Andy was in shock. ‘That was the first time I learned about genetic mutations causing lung cancer and that the percentage of lung cancer patients who didn’t smoke was so high. I was so taken aback as I am a healthy person. I eat well, exercise, and have never smoked in my life. There wasn’t anything I could do other than deal with it. I had to get treatment and focus on my recovery. I had to be proactive and support my own treatment plan. People still largely believe that lung cancer is a smoker’s disease. While tobacco smoking is