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The absence of a father in South African families is fast becoming a norm as more male family members take on the role of ‘social fathers’. A study, State of South Africa’s Fathers (SOSAF) 2021, revealed that at least 41% of children co-reside with men who are not their biological fathers. However, 61% of men reported living in the same household as at least one child when interviewed during COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Social fathers are father-figures in a child’s life that are not biologically related to the child. However, these fathers have decided to take on the responsibility and role of the father. They are physically, financially and emotionally engaged in the life of the child. Social fathers are usually men who have been employed and are older brothers, uncles, grandfather or even the mother’s partner. Used to father not being around Phaswana Asakundwi Emmanuel is a young man
This World Aids Day, South Africans are carrying the greatest HIV/Aids burden in the world, our country’s original pandemic. Yet, to combat COVID-19, our country has been able to move millions of people through vaccination sites each month. So, how do we utilise COVID-19 learnings and vaccination sites to bridge this gap for all our people living with HIV/Aids? Imagine if we turned each large community-based vaccination site into an opportunity where individuals could not only be vaccinated but also get screening and counselling for other critical health concerns? A large number of community-based outside facilities have the option to become multifunctional centres, we just need to figure out how to balance our resources. I run part of one of the world’s largest HIV Care and Treatment programmes, which is funded by the USA’s PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) fund and USAID and is operated by BroadReach, global
Health Minister Dr.Joe Phaalhla has urged South Africans not to panic about the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Speaking at a virtual media briefing on Monday, Phaahla and a team of scientists moved to allay fears, as many countries reacted to Omicron by imposing travel bans on South Africa. Protection from current vaccines expected to remain strong Epidemiologist Professor Abdool Karim said current vaccines are expected to provide protection against severe illness. “Protection of the vaccines is likely to remain strong. I don’t know this definitively – the studies are being done – but based on what we know, we can expect that the vaccines should hold well in preventing hospitalisation and severe disease,” said Abdool Karim. Phaahla said there was no need for panic. “We have been here before, this is not new territory for us. We now have more than 20 months’ experience in terms
Gauteng has entered the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Dr. Michelle Groome, head of the Division of Public Health Surveillance and Response at South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases. Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Groome said Gauteng has seen a rapid and sustained increase in COVID-19 cases. “For all intents and purposes, Gauteng is in the fourth wave. This will certainly spill over to other provinces,” said Groome. She said Limpopo, North West, and Mpumalanga are currently experiencing an increase in cases. COVID-19 variant called Omicron was detected in the country last week. It has 30 mutations and while scientists are still studying Omicron, it is likely to be more transmissible. Young children testing positive The new infections are being driven by younger people but those who are dying are over the age of 65, said the NICD’s Dr. Wassila Jassat said She added that
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The Khujwana Clinic remains unfazed by the numerous complaints of staff taking lunch and forcing patients to wait. Not even a sit-in staged by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) got their attention at the Tzaneen-based health facility. At one stage, there was only one nurse available causing patients to wait for treatment for hours at end. The TAC jumped in as a result and aired their gripes as patients’ rights continue to be violated. TAC takes aim Rebecca Hlugwani from the TAC was all guns blazing during the sit-in during September. “We are concerned about how the clinic is operating and the constant violation of the rights of the patients. We will engage with the clinic management and committee about such matters,” she said. Hlungwani added that due to the barrage of complaints lodged by patients, they’d be visiting the clinic for further engagement soon. “We will meet with them
A new COVID-19 variant has been detected in South Africa, scientists confirmed during an urgent briefing on Thursday afternoon The variant, currently known as B.1.1.529 exhibits a large number of mutations, according to researchers. This has raised concerns about its transmissibility, severity, and potential vaccine resistance. Professor Tulio de Oliveira said the variant had also been detected in Botswana and Hong Kong. Variant has increased in Gauteng “Early signs show that the variant has increased in Gauteng but may be present in most provinces. In South Africa we are seeing a rise in the reproductive number and this is important as it signified the start of the waves in the past, said De Oliveira. He said the variant displays an unusual constellation of mutations. “There are 10 mutations just at the receptor domain. And 30 mutations in spike protein. The full significance is still uncertain and that’s what we are
Climate change could pose huge obstacles in the fight against malaria given heavy rains and high temperatures – perfect conditions for the deadly disease to flourish. An article in the United Nations’ UN Chronicle, titled ‘Climate Change on Malaria – Complex Relationship‘, malaria kills approximately one million people. It also affect as many as one billion people in 109 countries throughout Africa and Latin America. An increase in temperature, rainfall, and humidity may cause a proliferation of the malaria-carrying mosquitoes at higher altitudes. This may result in an increase in transmission in areas in which it wasn’t reported before. The township of Mankweng in the Capricorn District in Limpopo, experienced flooding recently which could have a negative impact. Malaria-carrying parasites flock to such areas as breeding grounds. "Climate change will also affect infectious disease occurrence.” A number of diseases well known to be climate-sensitive, such as malaria, dengue fever, West
South Africa and the world will commence the Sixteen Days of Activism today on 25 November – International Day of No Violence Against Women. The Women’s Voice and Leadership partnership (WVL), coordinated by Gender Links, kicked off the annual campaign on 19 November, World Entrepreneurship Day. Coincidentally, that is also International Men’s Day. We aren’t convinced we need a men’s day since every day is pretty much that. We are convinced that until women have equal, fair and just access to economic resources we will be winning the battle and losing the war against gender violence. So what is new in 2021? Other than this being the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic – that has exposed this huge blight on our freedoms even further – earning gender violence the title of “twin pandemic” in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s family updates to the nation? First, is the fact that gender violence
South Africa has asked manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccines to delay delivery until next year as the country has sufficient stock, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday. Department of Health spokesperson Foster Mohale said the country has stocks to last it the next three months. “Our priority is demand creation to encourage more people to vaccinate ahead of the festive period. We are accelerating our efforts to reach more people ahead of the anticipated 4th wave to minimize its impact,” said Mohale. The government has been battling vaccine hesitancy and has been pulling out all the stops to boost the rate of administered doses. It launched weekend vaccines drives, pop-up vaccination centres, and partnered with community and traditional leaders to encourage more South Africans to get vaxxed. Vaccine hesitancy fight continues The latest official statistics show that 35 percent of South Africans are fully vaccinated. The government had set a target
An Argentine woman, diagnosed in 2013, has become the second documented person whose own immune system may have cured her of HIV. Researchers believe that the patient’s immune system appears to have cleared the virus on its own. The Annals of Internal Medicine said it required over eight years of follow-up and tests conducted on more than a billion of her cells in which no trace of the infection was found. Steven Deeks, an HIV researcher at the University of California in San Francisco, said her case was rather unique. “It’s not that she’s controlling the virus, which we do see. There’s no virus there, which is quite different,” Deeks told the Washington Post. The authors of the study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine believe that their findings will bring hope to the estimated 38 million people globally living with the virus and to the HIV-cure research field.
South Africa’s COVID-19 cases are beginning to climb as the government continues its drive to get 70 percent of the population vaccinated by the end of the year. The National Institute of Communicable Diseases warned there has been a spike in the 7-day moving average for new cases. In the past week, infections increased in Gauteng, particularly in Tshwane, the NICD said in a statement. The spike was evident among 10 to 29-year-olds. A cluster of infections was also identified among the 20-44 age group at a tertiary institute in Tshwane. “Localised increases in case numbers (clusters) are not unexpected, however, it is hard to say whether the increases indicate the start of a widespread resurgence.,” said NICD Acting Executive Director, Professor Adrian Puren. NICD monitoring trends Puren said they were monitoring the trends to see if the increases persist. The emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants had driven the previous
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a crippling effect on all women globally across every sphere; from health to the economy, security to social protection, and escalated poverty levels. However, few will argue that if it’s been tough for anybody, single mothers take first place. Mrs Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the former Executive Director of United Nations Women, summed it up well. “The COVID-19 pandemic is not just a health issue but a profound shock to the societies exposing the deficiencies of public and private arrangements that currently function only if women play multiple and underpaid roles.” The extent of the stringent lockdowns hit women badly as they saw an increase in roles and an extra burden of family care, but they fell disproportionately on single mothers, many of whom were already facing hidden challenges. According to the Gallup World Poll 2018, Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest percentage of single mothers worldwide, at