Empathic response and no need for perfection: reflections on harm reduction engagement in South Africa

Chemsex is the colloquial term used for a specific pattern of drug use that is increasingly common among men who have sex with men (MSM) globally. The recreational substances employed are used specifically in a sexualized context. The reasons for chemsex among MSM are complex. The Anova Health Institute (Anova) provided harm-reduction services in Cape Town, South Africa in 2013 and 2014. This project, known as Tikking the Boxes had two objectives: first to provide direct harm-reduction services to drug-using MSM in Cape Town, South Africa, and second, to reduce HIV and hepatitis B and C transmission among this population. This was done by identifying drug-using behaviour among MSM and linking them to harm-reduction services. Employing people who were currently using drugs was a novel aspect of this program, and successfully facilitated access to MSM drug-using networks. At the launch of the project, the concept of harm reduction was easily misunderstood by MSM. Another challenge was that the harm-reduction service, encompassing needle exchange, excluded opioid substitution therapy. People who use drugs were employed as outreach workers, requiring the project to be very flexible and adaptable to sometimes complex lives and difficult-to-reach peers. JAB SMART is Anova’s new harm-reduction initiative and started in May 2017, with support from the City of Johannesburg Health Department, and is the first project of its kind in the city to provide harm-reduction services to people who inject drugs (PWID) and their sexual partners.

Download Full-text

Time and Latitude in South Africa

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100026816 ◽

1972 ◽

Vol 1 ◽

pp. 27-38

Author(s):

J. Hers

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Cape Town ◽

Astronomical Observations ◽

Royal Observatory ◽

The Republic ◽

Astronomical Determination ◽

Limited Accuracy ◽

Better Than

In South Africa the modern outlook towards time may be said to have started in 1948. Both the two major observatories, The Royal Observatory in Cape Town and the Union Observatory (now known as the Republic Observatory) in Johannesburg had, of course, been involved in the astronomical determination of time almost from their inception, and the Johannesburg Observatory has been responsible for the official time of South Africa since 1908. However the pendulum clocks then in use could not be relied on to provide an accuracy better than about 1/10 second, which was of the same order as that of the astronomical observations. It is doubtful if much use was made of even this limited accuracy outside the two observatories, and although there may – occasionally have been a demand for more accurate time, it was certainly not voiced.

Download Full-text

Indirect Rule in South Africa

10.1017/upo9781580467421 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

J. C. Myers

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Indirect Rule

Download Full-text

Combining Professional Interests and Travel: People to People Citizen Ambassador Program

Perspectives on Global Issues in Communication Sciences and Related Disorders ◽

10.1044/gics1.2.47 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 47-54

Author(s):

Alex Johnson ◽

Amanda Hitchins

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Health Education ◽

Communication Disorders ◽

Social Conditions ◽

Speech Language Pathologists ◽

Exchange Program

Abstract This article summarizes a series of trips sponsored by People to People, a professional exchange program. The trips described in this report were led by the first author of this article and include trips to South Africa, Russia, Vietnam and Cambodia, and Israel. Each of these trips included delegations of 25 to 50 speech-language pathologists and audiologists who participated in professional visits to learn of the health, education, and social conditions in each country. Additionally, opportunities to meet with communication disorders professionals, students, and persons with speech, language, or hearing disabilities were included. People to People, partnered with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), provides a meaningful and interesting way to learn and travel with colleagues.

Download Full-text