scholarly journals Managing HIV/AIDS in the South African workplace: Just another duty?

2003 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Dickinson

The vast majority of HIV and AIDS cases are located in sub-Saharan Africa. AIDS constitutes a critical threat to the development of South Africa, yet the response to date has been slow and often confused. The research of ‘Deco’ is examined to outline how the company approached HIV/AIDS. Deco’s policies encouraged voluntary testing and counselling, openness and disclosure. Different HIV/AIDS programme aspects that responded in a reactive and under-resourced way and lacking access to managerial structures, had the opposite results. The very real value of AIDS volunteers’ contribution, is then described and evaluated. A new approach from both management and employees is needed in which a co-ordinated division of responsibility forms a key element in a workplace partnership to combat HIV/AIDS.

Author(s):  
Eleanor M. Fox ◽  
Mor Bakhoum

This chapter explores South African competition law. South Africa has the most sophisticated system of competition law and policy in sub-Saharan Africa. It has a mission to expand economic opportunity and facilitate inclusive development. In the wake of the UN Millennium Development Goals and the follow-on Sustainable Development Goals, there is a new world consciousness of the need to combat deep systemic poverty and to reverse the tide of increasing inequality of wealth, income, and opportunity. If there is any nation in the world whose competition law mandates integration of equity and efficiency, it is South Africa, and its policymakers are intent to address this need. The chapter looks at the South African Competition Act and highlights selected cases to illustrate the law and its implementation, including the effort by the Competition Tribunal to give serious regard to the equality and inclusiveness values that animated the statute.


Author(s):  
Gabriel Mhonyera ◽  
Ermie Steenkamp ◽  
Marianne Matthee

Background: Regional trade could be a powerful engine of economic growth and sustainable job creation. However, South Africa’s exports to sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are typically smaller and more short-lived than its exports to its traditional markets. This is despite South African policymakers considering trade with SSA to be a priority. Aim: The aim of the article is to evaluate South Africa’s utilisation of sustained export potential in SSA with a view to providing practical insights that will inform future policymaking and planning. Setting: Despite the priority attention given to SSA in the country’s trade policy, South Africa is yet to make meaningful inroads into SSA’s largest and fastest-growing economies. Method: The research method applied comprised three steps. The first step involved the identification, over a five-year period from 2010 to 2014, of consistently large and/or growing import demand in SSA for all products at the Harmonised System (HS) six-digit level, as well as the identification of products South Africa consistently exported competitively (sustainable exports). The second step entailed matching SSA markets with consistently large and/or growing import demand to South Africa’s sustainable exports. The third step involved evaluating South Africa’s utilisation of sustained export potential in SSA. Results: The results reveal that South Africa is utilising just over half (54%) of its sustained export potential in SSA. Conclusion: South Africa is, therefore, underutilising or not utilising close to 50% of its sustained export potential in SSA. Most of the export potential that South Africa is utilising is in Eastern Africa while most of the export potential that the country is underutilising and not utilising at all is in Central and Western Africa.


Author(s):  
RL van Zyl

Sub-Saharan Africa has to contend with many challenges, including inadequate healthcare systems, lack of optimal sanitation, and clean water and food. All of these contribute to malnutrition and an increased risk of infections, including parasitism by cestodes and trematodes. Schistosomiasis is a category-2 notifiable trematode (fluke) infection, whereas cestode (tapeworm) infections need not be reported to the South African Department of Health. Epidemiological data for helminthiasis in South Africa is scant, with a paucity of publications on the South African scenario. As such, a complete picture of the impact of helminth infections on all age groups in South Africa does not exist. These parasitic diseases not only have an impact on socio economic development of a country, community and families, but also contribute to the chronic and detrimental effects on the health and nutritional status of the host, including the impaired development of children. In order to break the cycle of poverty and disease, a strong education drive is required in schools and communities to provide effective strategies and guidelines on preventative measures that result in avoidance of exposure to infective stages of Schistosoma and Taenia tapeworms. Also, it is imperative that healthcare professionals are able to recognise the signs and symptoms, so that interventions can be promptly initiated. The current anthelmintic treatments available in South Africa are effective against cestodes and trematodes, with no drug resistance having being reported. The need for compliancy when taking anthelmintic drugs must be emphasised.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul-Aziz Seidu ◽  
Bright Opoku Ahinkorah ◽  
Louis Kobina Dadzie ◽  
Justice Kanor Tetteh ◽  
Ebenezer Agbaglo ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Despite the importance of self-reporting health in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) control, studies on self-reported sexually transmitted infections (SR-STIs) are scanty, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study assessed the prevalence and factors associated with SR-STIs among sexually active men (SAM) in SSA. Methods Analysis was done based on the current Demographic and Health Survey of 27 countries in SSA conducted between 2010 and 2018. A total of 130,916 SAM were included in the analysis. The outcome variable was SR-STI. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed with a statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Results On the average, the prevalence of STIs among SAM in SSA was 3.8%, which ranged from 13.5% in Liberia to 0.4% in Niger. Sexually-active men aged 25–34 (AOR = 1.77, CI:1.6–1.95) were more likely to report STIs, compared to those aged 45 or more years. Respondents who were working (AOR = 1.24, CI: 1.12–1.38) and those who had their first sex at ages below 20 (AOR = 1.20, CI:1.11–1.29) were more likely to report STIs, compared to those who were not working and those who had their first sex when they were 20 years and above. Also, SAM who were not using condom had higher odds of STIs (AOR = 1.35, CI: 1.25–1.46), compared to those who were using condom. Further, SAM with no comprehensive HIV and AIDS knowledge had higher odds (AOR = 1.43, CI: 1.08–1.22) of STIs, compared to those who reported to have HIV/AIDS knowledge. Conversely, the odds of reporting STIs was lower among residents of rural areas (AOR = 0.93, CI: 0.88–0.99) compared to their counterparts in urban areas, respondents who had no other sexual partner (AOR = 0.32, CI: 0.29–0.35) compared to those who had 2 or more sexual partners excluding their spouses, those who reported not paying for sex (AOR = 0.55, CI: 0.51–0.59) compared to those who paid for sex, and those who did not read newspapers (AOR = 0.93, CI: 0.86–0.99) compared to those who read. Conclusion STIs prevalence across the selected countries in SSA showed distinct cross-country variations. Current findings suggest that STIs intervention priorities must be given across countries with high prevalence. Several socio-demographic factors predicted SR-STIs. To reduce the prevalence of STIs among SAM in SSA, it is prudent to take these factors (e.g., age, condom use, employment status, HIV/AIDS knowledge) into consideration when planning health education and STIs prevention strategies among SAM.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-86
Author(s):  
Steve Milanese ◽  
Susan Gordon ◽  
Narasimman Swaminathan

Aim and Background: Clinical Education opportunities for undergraduate Physiotherapy students are now increasingly occurring internationally. The clinical educator (CE) plays a significant role in the clinical education process particularly when a student undertakes a clinical placement in a different country as the CE often takes on a surrogate caretaker role. This study explores the self-reported perceptions of Physiotherapy students from three countries representing different global society clusters – South Africa (Sub-Saharan Africa), India (Southern Asia) and Australia (Anglo), regarding the roles and attributes of a CE that they value in the clinical education process. Method: Data was collected from undergraduate Physiotherapy students in a university in India (n=23) and Australia (n=154) and compared with data from a similar student cohort in South Africa (n=70). Students were asked roles and attributes of a clinical educator were of most value in the clinical education setting. Results: The relative values placed on CE roles/attributes across the three cohorts was similar, however specific differences between cohorts suggest that clinical educators should be aware of differences when supervising international students.


2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (26) ◽  
pp. 183-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayde R. Pandy ◽  
Christian M. Rogerson

Abstract Research on the accommodation sector attracts only a small fraction of contemporary tourism scholarship relating to sub-Saharan Africa. This paper contributes to this expanding literature on segmentation and the accommodation sector in South Africa. Specifically, it examines the establishment and making of the timeshare industry as a distinctive form of accommodation within the national tourism economy. The timeshare industry in South Africa is the largest and most mature in sub-Saharan Africa and among the most important in the developing world. The analysis uses a longitudinal perspective in order to interpret the emerging spatial organisation and evolving structural issues that impacted upon the development of the timeshare industry in its formative years from 1978 to 2002. The study addresses a knowledge gap around the minimal pursuit of historical research within the existing international literature about timeshare.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 185
Author(s):  
PHILLIPUS J. (FLIP) BUYS

One of the most challenging issues in dealing with HIV/AIDS in Africa is breaking through the stigmas surrounding the disease and building resilience in communities where large numbers of people are infected with HIV or otherwise affected by the pandemic. This article explores the relationship between shame, fear, guilt, witchcraft, and HIV/AIDS stigmatization by looking at key features of the African traditional worldview and culture. We point out predominant witchcraft beliefs and how they translate to community attitudes towards people living with HIV and AIDS. We highlight the influence of prevailing beliefs in witchcraft and how they aggravate the experience of fear, shame, and stigmatization by people infected with or otherwise affected by HIV. Relevant aspects of the gospel are brought to bear to answer these challenges. KEYWORDS: HIV/AIDS, stigmatization, shame culture, fear culture, witchcraft, ubuntu


Author(s):  
Mukovhe Maureen Nthai

The development of Africa is not only a problem to the Africans alone but also to the world at large. This is because some regions of the world also depend on Africa for their livelihoods. In Sub Saharan Africa one of the rural development strategies identified is land reform. Post-colonial African governments have argued that land reform would alleviate the majority of the people in the region from poverty, create employment, and address inequality. This is the position adopted by the post-apartheid government in South Africa beyond 27 April 1994. However, the South African post-apartheid land reform has had some significant complexities in its implementation – especially with regard to funding. Funding was impeded by widespread corruption in government. In addition, there has been immense lack of interest in making funds available for land reform in South Africa from non-governmental entities and donors.


Author(s):  
James Leigland

This chapter presents case studies of three recent renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) tender programs in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), in Uganda, Zambia, and South Africa. Using competitive tenders to select IPP projects is rare in Africa, but is viewed as an effective way of lowering project costs. And with the rapid reductions in the costs associated with wind and solar projects, renewable energy IPP projects may represent the power sector public–private partnerships (PPPs) of the future. These case studies detail the role of development partners in designing and implementing the first two of these programs and compare their performance with that of the South African program, a program designed and managed almost exclusively by South African officials and their advisers. What are the lessons that can be learned from these two distinct approaches? What impact do these kinds of programs have on the “IPP policy dilemma” described in Chapter 8?


Significance HIV and AIDS have slipped from the public radar in recent years but nonetheless remains a serious health challenge across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Efforts to control the epidemic may well be put at risk following recent US policy announcements that are likely to undermine prevention efforts. Impacts The US Mexico City Policy will damage HIV/AIDS programming through its effects on critical sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. Growing drug resistance to HIV treatment will impair both treatment and prevention services, leading to increased deaths and new infections. Weak health systems and lack of domestic support jeopardises the sustainability of HIV services. Emerging health crises may divert donor attention and budget support from HIV/AIDS organisations at a time when momentum is needed.


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