Health e News
The air at home is dangerous to the health of more than half South Africa’€™s population. This is because some 50 percent of households still use “dirty” fuels such as paraffin, coal and wood for heating and cooking Jo Stein reports.
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Alcohol abuse, unemployment and zero prospects make the Northern Cape the country’s most violent province, with the highest rape and assaults rates per 100 000 people.
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Despite high levels of alcohol and drug abuse in Cape Town, very few public rehabilitation centres exist to provide free treatment to those without private medical aids. This is according to a recent study by the Medical Research Council. Jo Stein reports.
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A new fortified cookie designed to suppliment micronutrients in school children is being launched in Durban today (22 March 2000). The carotino-nutritional biscuit is the product of four years of scientific tests. It was developed by the MRC to eliminate the widespread deficiency in vitamins A, E and iron which is essential for good mental and physical development in South African children.
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In one year, five community health workers and two volunteer nurses have transformed health care in the Masiphumelele community near Noordhoek, reversing the low cure rate for tuberculosis to reach an astounding 100%.
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Don’€™t rely on the workers’€™ compensation system to provide for you if you get injured at work; the system may only add insult to injury. This is according to a submission to the Public Protector requesting a formal inquiry into the Office of the Compensation Commissioner.
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When it comes to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) its seems that public health care offers patients more appropriate treatment and better medication. However, because of the sensitive nature of STDs, many patients still tend to opt for private care. JO STEIN explores the findings of a recent research report.
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“Mama Khoza” spends most of her weekends at graveyards, not really to honour those who have already moved on, but as she puts it “to bury the cream of Mamelodi”. “I told someone last week. We are burying the cream of Mamelodi – youngsters who are in the process of completing their degrees,” says Veronica Khoza, a retired nurse, who now runs Tateni, a community-based home care project.
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A wild plant that produces beans and potato-like roots, for decades harvested by the San people in Nambia, is showing huge potential towards solving many malnutrition and hunger problems in Africa, but specifically southern Africa. The marama bean is proving to be a very versatile legume, say researchers at the University of Cape Town.
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A resourceful attitude and creative approach to the humble plastic soft drink bottle have produced a new device to help children with asthma inhale their medication. Researchers at the University of Cape Town and the Red Cross Children’€™s hospital have designed a local version of the inhaler-spacer which costs just R1 to make and is just as effective as commercial spacers which cost about R160. The plastic bottle spacers will soon be distributed free of charge to primary health care facilities throughout the Western Cape. The device is good news given that between 10 and 15% of children in South Africa suffer from asthma.
It should be a time of joy, peace and goodwill ‘€“ yet all too often Christmas can be a time of loneliness, strained family relations and financial hardship. Psychologists warn that society has imposed all kinds of expectations around this time of year ‘€“ some of which are unrealistic and most of which are guaranteed to heighten stress levels. However, there are ways of coping.
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Giving some patients priority over over may be tough, but it is necessary if the TB epidemic is to be beaten with limited resources. This is the logic of international experts who are urging South Africa to pour resources into curing new cases of ordinary TB rather than spending any more money trying to treat multiple drug-resistant TB. “Pay attention to the new cases and fix them the first time around or they become retreatment and multiple drug-resistant cases. First we need to shut the tap,” says Professor Don Enarson from the World Health Organisation TB review team.