articles

• Karen Hofman

  Non-communicable Diseases: reframing the conversation on health

  

  The UN general assembly summit in September helped focus the world on the threat posed to economic development by four conditions - cancer, heart disease, diabetes and chronic lung disease. This is surprisingly true even in a middle income country like South Africa (SA). The economic impact of chronic conditions on the workforce and their productivity, and the cost to the health system is already enormous and without serious attention is set to balloon. The advent of significant resources to address this burgeoning epidemic seems unlikely. In an era when donor funding is shrinking, the envelope for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) could even decline as the SA government assumes greater fiscal responsibility for HIV/TB. This article discusses the burden of disease and disability in SA, the risk factors for NCDs in the country, possible interventions and the affordability.
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  15 November, 2011  |   Comment(s) (2)  |   Category: Articles, Non-communicable diseases
• Yogan Pillay

  The implementation of PHC re-engineering in South Africa

  

  To achieve the goal of a long and healthy life for all South Africans the health system must be overhauled to produce better health outcomes. The National Health Council has given clear direction to the health system around primary health care (PHC) re-engineering, and the associated three streams. These three streams, which will be discussed in this article, are a ward based PHC outreach team for each electoral ward; strengthening school health services; and district based clinical specialist teams with an initial focus on improving maternal and child health. All stakeholders will have to work in partnership and unison to achieve these results.
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  15 November, 2011  |   Comment(s) (0)  |   Category: Articles, Health systems
• Elvira Singh

  New regulations on cancer notification in South Africa

  

  In April 2011, new regulations for the registration of cancers were promulgated. These regulations make it compulsory for every health care worker who has diagnosed a new case of cancer to notify the case on the prescribed form. The regulations make provision for the establishment of a population-based cancer registry. This articles discusses the role of the National Cancer Registry, Health Care Workers and Public Health Practitioners in the registration of cancer cases and the subsequent management and analysis of the data.
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  15 November, 2011  |   Comment(s) (0)  |   Category: Articles, Non-communicable diseases
• Masego Rantao

  Tobacco cessation: The role of health professionals

  

  Tobacco use has been identified as the leading cause of preventable deaths in the world, giving rise to an estimated 5 million deaths per year. By the year 2020, this is expected to nearly double with 70% of the deaths occurring in the developing countries. To prevent the projected number of deaths, many attempts are being made to curb the current smoking patterns. In South Africa, the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act of 1999 was formulated and has resulted in the decreasing prevalence of smoking. This paper discusses approaches to smoking cessation and proposes a context for action by all health care professionals. We suggest changing the social acceptability of smoking, strengthening community participation, integrating tobacco cessation with other healthcare services and specifying the role of healthcare professionals to increase tobacco use cessation.
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  15 November, 2011  |   Comment(s) (0)  |   Category: Articles