Health e News
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Covid-19 is no longer a public health emergency of international concern. The Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the announcement on Friday, marking exactly three years since the outbreak began in Wuhan, China. “Yesterday, the Emergency Committee met for the 15th time and recommended to me that I declare an end to the public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice. It is therefore with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency.” He says COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the world, causing almost 7 million reported deaths. The toll is likely to be closer to 20 million deaths. It also caused severe economic and social upheaval. “COVID-19 has been so much more than a health crisis. It has caused severe economic upheaval, erasing trillions from GDP, disrupting travel and trade, shuttering businesses, and plunging
by Tony Carnie, Daily MaverickThe Saiccor pulp factory at Umkomaas has been mashing up and dissolving gum trees in chemical cookers for nearly 70 years to produce tree-based fibres for clothes and curtains. But since operations began in 1955, the factory has also raised the ire of local residents frequently by gassing the atmosphere with clouds of sulphur dioxide and other noxious gases, and by dumping its “purple death” liquid effluent into the sea. Sappi took over the factory in 1988 from the British textile group Courtaulds. Toxic fumes forced removal of 250 schoolchildren Just short of a decade later, a government official leaked documents to this writer demonstrating that the factory frequently exceeded the government’s air pollution guidelines. Sappi later agreed to relocate 250 children from a nearby primary school to a new site 2km away because of the cloying fumes that threatened the health of the children. At
Colour is a ubiquitous presence in our lives, from the bright shades of a beautiful sunset to the cool blues of a serene ocean. However, for the autism community, colour takes on a special significance as a symbol of hope, solidarity, and awareness writes Professor Juan Bornman. A rainbow-coloured infinity symbol is an international symbol for autism. It represents the vast range of autism symptoms and many challenges faced by these individuals but also their unlimited range of abilities. For the past 16 years, the autism community have embarked on the “Light It Up Blue” campaign in April to promote autism awareness worldwide. Iconic buildings such as the Eifel Tower in Paris, the Nelson Mandela Bridge in Johannesburg and King Shaka Airport in Durban are lit up in blue. Everyone is encouraged to wear blue clothes, shine blue lights, and hoist blue flags as a symbol of solidarity with persons
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by Agnes Erzse, University of the Witwatersrand It is almost impossible nowadays to listen to the radio, watch TV or scroll through social media without being exposed to an advertisement telling us that all we need for a little happiness and love is a sugary drink or a fast-food snack. There’s nothing that a tasty, affordable, ready-made meal cannot fix, we are asked to believe. Over many decades our food environments have relentlessly been encouraging us to make choices that are harmful to our health, through pricing, marketing and availability. This rise in advertising has contributed to a growing global obesity crisis as well as nutrition deficiencies as more and more people opt to eat unhealthy food. We each have the right to buy whatever we can afford. But commercial forces limit our freedom of choice more than we think. New evidence published in The Lancet shows that key causes
Black women living with HIV continue to experience forced sterilisation at South African public health institutions, the Sexual and Reproductive Justice Conference heard at Diep in Die Berg, in Pretoria, on Wednesday Organised by the Department of Social Development, the conference brought together policymakers, civil society organisations, researchers, and young people to deepen and promote sexual and reproductive justice. Addressing legacy of forced sterilisation of HIV-positive women Khensani Motileni, from the Women’s Legal Centre, says many women, especially, those living in rural communities face discrimination and don’t often have equitable access to basic services, such as water, food, and medical treatment. Quoting from an investigation report by the Commission on Gender Equality, Motileni says some women were sterilised without being given alternative prevention or birth control measures. This she says, is equivalent to forced or coerced sterilisation of women in public health institutions and has a negative impact on many
Written by Lillian Artz, Veronica Filippeschi and Nokwanda Nzimande The global female prison population has grown by a staggering 53% over the past decade. Yet little has been done to improve the system so that it supports those whom it incarcerates. South Africa is no different. The little information we have about women in South African prisons speaks of intolerable overcrowding, unhygienic sleeping conditions, and minimal health and mental health care services, including ‘medical neglect’. This comes in addition to pervasive issues with deteriorating infrastructure. And the impact of imprisoning women on the back of the already dire socio-economic conditions of the families that women support and leave behind when imprisoned. Two reports on conditions but no change In 2015 Constitutional Court Judge Cameron – now the Inspecting Judge for Correctional Services – released a harrowing report based on a visit to a prison where women were detained. “Ninety-four
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Plans to build a R20-million clinic near Lebowakgomo in rural Limpopo have stalled due to a disagreement over its location. Mining company Sibanye-Stillwater took on the project in 2019 after the communities of two rural villages, Dithabaneng and Makurung, requested a larger facility to serve the growing population. The Dithabaneng Clinic currently serves five villages. A site for the new clinic was chosen near the high school in Makurung, but Dithabaneng village residents have proposed a different site. Headmen at odds over clinic location Makurung Village headman Percy Shogole say the site makes the most sense. It is also the location chosen by the traditional authority. “We are not going to agree to this unfairness. The site next to the school is convenient for both villages, no argument about that.” Trevor Mphahlele, the spokesperson for the Mphahlele Traditional Authority, which oversees Dithabaneng and Makurung villages, confirms that the site
Treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED) is becoming more affordable in South Africa as the price of medication to treat it continues to fall. This means men no longer have to limit love-making to special occasions like Valentine’s Day. Increased competition in the market has led to a drop in prices by an average of 33% over the past 11 years, with generics now available for as little as R80 for a pack of four. National Impotence Day on February 14 sheds light on Erectile Dysfunction. It aims to educate both the public and health professionals.https://t.co/lhUjmrCaWg #erectiledysfunction #erectiledysfunctiontreatment #erectiledysfunctioncure #erectiledysfunctionexpert #impotence pic.twitter.com/Iz2Skj8UiC — IVFLondonUK (@IVF_londonUK) February 14, 2023 Fadhl Solomon, the Men’s Health Category Manager for Pharma Dynamics, says the introduction of generic medication to the market has driven the price drop. “Currently, there are ten different generic brands available to SA patients, with more expected to follow in the
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Nonhlanhla Mazaleni uses her personal experience living with HIV to help young people who test positive to stay on treatment and live positively. The 47-year-old, who hails from Diepkloof in Soweto is a professional counsellor and the founder of Tholulwazi Phakathi. She’s never been one to shy away from her HIV status and, after living with it for 26 years, is reaching out to others. Living positively is not easy “I live positively with HIV, but it was not easy to accept at first. There was no medication and many stigmas, and I was so afraid. I attended support groups where we did memory boxes so our families would have something to remember us with when we died. We also attended counselling to prepare us for death. I remember I was unemployed at that time and had nothing. I put in my scarf and perfume and wrote letters to
Christmas and New Year are holidays with dietary excesses that many of us cannot control. This often leads to the “festive bulge”. As the holidays approach, could there be a recipe to contain this weight gain and pave the way to sustainable nutrition-based health at the same time? There’s a lot of focus on what we eat and how much we eat – but what about when we eat? Chrononutrition is the science of how timing affects our responses to nutrients. Scientific insights into when we eat suggest it may be worth exploring for better health. While the idea of getting started on chrononutrition over Christmas can sound challenging, the guilty conscience that tends to follow feasting over the holidays may provide the needed motivation for the year ahead. So for better health in the new year, why not try out time-restricted eating (TRE)? TRE is a type of