News
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Africa’s rise over the past decade has been very real. While sceptics still abound, and there are people who still seek to debate the point, the evidence of Africa’s clear progress is irrefutable….more
Official tweets from the National Department of Health South Africa….more
The UN needs to get a fix on achievable goals for its next 15-year global development agenda. Economics may well show the way….more
Better care and treatment of HIV patients may be putting the country on the road to a decline in infections – and the secret lies in patients’ blood, according to new data….more
Selected provincial health budget vote speeches from the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng the Western Cape provinces….more
Graziela dos Santos (25) is walking down a street in one of Brazil’s favelas, Coahab Raposo Tavares, in São Paulo. Fast. As she travels down a hill, body lurching forward, Dos Santos’s arms swing. Favelas are Brazil’s equivalent of South African townships. This one is in a part of São Paulo called Boa Vista and about 20 000 people live here. To be more precise, 19 903 people. Dos Santos knows, because she helped to count them herself. Raposo Tavares is home to all kinds of accommodation: government-subsidised townhouses and flats, self-built houses that are stacked on top of one another in a way that would leave even Londoners cringing with discomfort, and the shacklike homes that millions of South Africans would know well…..more
A few months ago, architect Fanuel Motsepe, who lives in Bramley, a suburb on the Alexandra side of the M1 motorway, was invited by a Belgian friend to take an early morning walk. The pair set off at 4.30am. Their route traced the so-called “Great Walk” out of Alexandra. Every day about 10 000 people walk and cycle roughly 5km from Alex to Sandton, their route threading through Wynberg before cautiously crossing over the M1 at Grayston interchange into Sandton. Similar acts are performed in countless towns and cities across the country, across velds, through parks and around palisade fences….more
As the ranks of managers bloat, less money may be going to service delivery in some health districts as about half of districts report they do not have the managers, money or control to do their jobs properly. This is according to a study recently conducted by the Pretoria-based Foundation for Professional Development (FPD), which provides on-going training to health workers and technical assistance to some districts. As part of the research, FPD surveyed about 240 senior managers from almost half of the country’s health districts to find out what has gone wrong with district health care….more
Foreign medical professionals comprise about 13 percent of public sector medical practitioners, according to a new report released today (29 September) by University of the Witswatersrand’s African Centre for Migration and Society. About 40 percent of these workers come from neighbouring countries and about an equal portion from overseas. A quarter of these workers come from African countries farther afield…..more
THE constitution and the law are there to ensure that democratic politics happens within agreed rules — not to make politics go away. One result of Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s Nkandla report is debate among lawyers — and political parties — on her powers. One side of the argument insists that she can only recommend and cannot tell the government what to do. The other, which includes Madonsela, relies on a clause in the constitution that says the office can take “remedial action” to argue that it can order government to act. The dispute may be headed to the courts…..more
A police officer from the Moroka Police Station in Soweto visited the Chiawelo Community Practice this morning. She wanted to convey her feelings of gratitude and admiration for the CCP Community Health Workers who had been part of a Career Day on Friday 26th September at the Gazankulu Primary School in Chiawelo, Ward 11. She was clearly emotional and sometimes could not find words to describe this. She really appreciated the way they taught using role play and sketches. This effort was led by our new Health Promotion Coordinator, Nkosinathi Makhubo.
Creativity and an understanding of where your patients come from are key to being a successful rural doctor, says Dr Jenny Nash, who this week was named Rural Doctor of the Year….more
Published by the South African Department of Health, this 53-page document outlines eight broad strategic goals for the department within the next four years including rolling out the National Health Insurance (NHI), re-engineering primary health care and improving financial management….more
THE national government has told municipalities what they need to do — now it needs to help citizens to force them to do it. Largely ignored by media determined not to cover anything that might make a difference to people’s lives, the national government last week hosted a local government summit. Often, official summits are an excuse for politicians to state the obvious. But this summit was important: it showed that Pravin Gordhan’s national ministry responsible for local government is serious about trying to fix municipalities and that the national government is backing it….more
CCP CHWs Thuli and Hellen got into the mood for Heritage Day in SA. They are dressed up eager for Friday when the whole CHW team will be dressed up in full. A pic will be posted.
A team from Wits visited CCP and Klipspruit West Clinic to explore it as a base for an NRF collaboration with Egypt on ICT . The plan is to support re engineering of PHC services in a site in SA based on 10 years of experience of this in Egypt. The ICT team are having a workshop on the project in Wits on Thursday.
AfroPHC 