scholarly journals The Impact of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions on the First COVID-19 Epidemic Wave in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thabo Mabuka ◽  
Nesisa Ncube ◽  
Michael Ross ◽  
Andrea Silaji ◽  
Willie Macharia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
African Population ◽  
South African Population ◽  
Seir Model ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Epidemic Wave ◽  
Pharmaceutical Interventions ◽  
Excess Deaths

On the 5th of March 2020, South Africa reported its first cases of COVID-19. This signalled the onset of the first COVID-19 epidemic wave in South Africa. The response by the Government of South Africa to the COVID-19 epidemic in South Africa was the use of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). In this study, a semi-reactive COVID-19 model, the ARI COVID-19 SEIR model, was used to investigate the impact of NPIs in South Africa to understand their effectiveness in the reduction of COVID-19 transmission in the South African population. This study also investigated the COVID-19 testing, reporting, hospitalised cases and excess deaths in the first COVID-19 epidemic wave in South Africa.

The impact of HIV on Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteraemia in a South African population

AIDS ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 2177-2184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Jones ◽  
Robin Huebner ◽  
Manikant Khoosal ◽  
Heather Crewe-Brown ◽  
Keith Klugman
Keyword(s):  
Streptococcus Pneumoniae ◽  
South African ◽  
African Population ◽  
South African Population ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals The emergence of cardiovascular disease during urbanisation of Africans

2002 ◽  
Vol 5 (1a) ◽  
pp. 239-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
HH Vorster
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
South African ◽  
African Population ◽  
Published Data ◽  
South African Population ◽  
Population Groups ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Black South Africans

AbstractObjective:To review the available data on risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), the influence of urbanisation of Africans on these risk factors, and to examine why stroke emerges as a higher risk than ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in the health transition of black South Africans.Design:A review of published data on mortality from and risk factors of CVD in South Africans.Setting:South Africa.Subjects:South African population groups and communities.Methods:The available data on the contribution of stroke and IHD to CVD mortality in South Africa are briefly reviewed, followed by a comparison of published data on the prevalence and/or levels of CVD risk factors in the different South African population groups. The impact of urbanisation of black South Africans on these risk factors is assessed by comparing rural and urban Africans who participated in the Transition and Health during Urbanisation of South Africans (THUSA) study.Results and conclusions: The mortality rates from CVD confirmed that stroke is a major public health problem amongst black South Africans, possibly because of an increase in hypertension, obesity, smoking habit and hyperfibrinogenaemia during various stages of urbanisation. The available data further suggest that black South Africans may be protected against IHD because of favourable serum lipid profiles (low cholesterol and high ratios of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) and low homocysteine values. However, increases in total fat and animal protein intake of affluent black South Africans, who can afford Western diets, are associated with increases in body mass indices of men and women and in total serum cholesterol. These exposures may increase IHD risk in the future.

scholarly journals Probing the efficacy of local economic development in South African Municipalities: A case of POLOKWANE local municipality

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
CM Mashabela ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
South African ◽  
Local Economic Development ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

The government of South Africa adopted Local Economic Development (LED) as part of its development policy in its quest for an inclusive economic development and growth. LED is intended to create a conducive environment for an inclusive local economy. However, unemployment and poverty rates are high in local communities with some SMMEs struggling to secure funding. Although municipalities do not create jobs directly through LED, they should, however, ensure that strategies implemented talk to inclusive economic growth, particularly the mitigation of unemployment and poverty rates. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the efficacy of LED in South African municipalities. The paper aims to evaluate and analyse the impact of implementing LED in South Africa. The quantitative research approach was adopted, and questionnaires were utilised to collect primary data. The paper found that LED in South Africa produces desired results at a low rate in that only a small fraction of the participants agrees that the municipality facilitates funding for SMMEs; only a small fraction of the participants is of the view that LED units provide adequate infrastructure and create industries. Moreover, the paper found that only a fraction of the participants is able to create job opportunities. Consequently, the paper recommends that municipalities should facilitate SMMEs funding, provide adequate infrastructure, develop industries and design LED strategies that enhance job creation. The paper argues that effective measures of implementing LED will enhance LED impact rate and fast track the prospects of inclusive economic growth in South African municipalities.

scholarly journals Protective behaviours and secondary harms from non-pharmaceutical interventions during the COVID-19 epidemic in South Africa: a multisite prospective longitudinal study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Harling ◽  
Francesc Xavier Gómez-Olivé ◽  
Joseph Tlouyamma ◽  
Tinofa Mutevedzi ◽  
Chodziwadziwa Whiteson Kabudula ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Prospective Longitudinal Study ◽  
Prospective Longitudinal ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Pharmaceutical Interventions

ABSTRACTBackgroundIn March 2020 South Africa implemented strict non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to contain Covid-19. Over the subsequent five months NPIs were eased in stages according to national strategy. Covid-19 spread throughout the country heterogeneously, reaching rural areas by July and peaking in July-August. Data on the impact of NPI policies on social and economic wellbeing and access to healthcare is limited. We therefore analysed how rural residents of three South African provinces changed their behaviour during the first epidemic wave.MethodsThe South African Population Research Infrastructure Network (SAPRIN) nodes in Mpumalanga (Agincourt), KwaZulu-Natal (AHRI) and Limpopo (DIMAMO) provinces conducted longitudinal telephone surveys among randomly sampled households from rural and peri-urban surveillance populations every 2-3 weeks. Interviews included questions on: Covid-19 knowledge and behaviours; health and economic impact of NPIs; and mental health.Results2262 households completed 10,966 interviews between April and August 2020. By August, self-reported satisfaction with Covid-19 knowledge had risen from 48% to 85% and facemask use to over 95%. As selected NPIs were eased mobility increased, and economic losses and anxiety and depression symptoms fell. When Covid-19 cases spiked at one node in July, movement dropped rapidly, and missed daily medication rates doubled. Economic concerns and mental health symptoms were lower in households receiving a greater number of government-funded old-age pensions.ConclusionsSouth Africans reported complying with stringent Covid-19 NPIs despite the threat of substantial social, economic and health repercussions. Government-supported social welfare programmes appeared to buffer interruptions in income and healthcare access during local outbreaks. Epidemic control policies must be balanced against impacts on wellbeing in resource-limited settings and designed with parallel support systems where they threaten income and basic service access.

The Development and Validation of a Subtle Racism Scale in South Africa

1991 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 233-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Duckitt
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
University Students ◽  
South African ◽  
Racial Prejudice ◽  
African Population ◽  
South African Population ◽  
Modern Racism ◽  
Subtle Racism ◽  
Validity Criteria ◽  
Development And Validation

Research on the concept of symbolic or modern racism has shown that transparent and obvious measures of traditional racism no longer adequately reflect racial prejudice in many American sub-populations. There are indications that this may also be the case for certain segments of the white South African population, particularly in the case of university students who have been the typical subjects of research on prejudice. Traditional measures of prejudice may also be viewed as offensive by subjects and elicit antagonistic reactions. The present study therefore set out to develop and validate a new, more indirect, and subtle measure of anti-black racial prejudice designed to overcome these problems. The results ( N = 217) indicated that the Subtle Racism scale was unidimensional, highly reliable, and showed powerful associations with a number of validity criteria. It clearly outperformed a more traditional measure of racism in all respects.

scholarly journals The impact of motherless paternity testing in a South African population

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 379-84
Author(s):  
André A De Kock ◽  
Jean JF Kloppers
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Pcr Amplification ◽  
Paternity Testing ◽  
African Population ◽  
South African Population ◽  
Kinship Analysis ◽  
Str Analysis ◽  
Str Loci ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Background: Paternity investigations play an important role in determining biological relatedness, and in South Africa, the outcome of these investigations impacts medical, judicial and home affairs decisions. Short Tandem Repeat (STR) analysis is utilised to perform paternity and kinship analysis, due to the polymorphic nature of STR loci. The cost associated with paternity testing is high, and there is a demand for motherless testing. Objectives: This study aims to determine what the impact of motherless testing would have been by evaluating 6182 pa- ternity trio cases. Methods: The AmpFLSTR™ Identifiler™ PCR Amplification kit was used to profile each of the trio cases. A scenario was created where the mother was eliminated from the test results to determine if the paternity outcome would change. Results: Putative fathers were excluded in 27% of all cases, and in 2.5% of those cases, putative fathers would have been falsely included, had the mother not been tested. These false inclusions are attributed to coincidental STR loci that are shared between the mother and the putative father. The addition of loci to the STR profiling kit may resolve the issue; however, comparable STR data with more loci will have to be evaluated to ensure it overcomes the issue of coincidentally shared loci between unrelated individuals. Conclusion: We would recommend that within our setup and within similar setups, the mother always be included for test- ing, except in extreme scenarios such as death. False inclusion of putative fathers could have serious legal implications for testing laboratories. Keywords: Motherless paternity testing; South African population.

scholarly journals Visual impairment in South Africa: achieve-ments and challenges

2005 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
H.S. Sacharowitz
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Visual Impairment ◽  
South African ◽  
Private Practice ◽  
Private Health Care ◽  
Eye Care ◽  
South African Population ◽  
Care Services ◽  
The Impact

Estimates of the prevalence and causes of visual impairment in South Africa are reviewed against the existing services and limitations in the country. The magnitude1 of visual impair-ment  and  the  projected  increase  worldwide over the coming decades have been recognized as having potentially far-reaching social, eco-nomic and quality of life implications for not only the affected individuals but also for their families and communities. Two-thirds or more of all blindness is avoidable, in that the causes are  preventable  or  treatable.2,  3  Early  detec-tion, prevention and management programs are needed to reduce the impact of visual impair-ment. Approximately 80% of the South African population is indigent, relying on public hospi-tals and clinics and the remaining 20% of the population has access to private health care.4 As the majority of eye care professionals are in private practice, access to eye care services are available to only a minority of the population. This paper reviews the current services in South Africa and the challenges that lie ahead.

scholarly journals Retracted: Supracondylar Osteochondroma in a Black South African Population

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1482-1485
Author(s):  
David A. Ofusori ◽  
Omobola A. Komolafe ◽  
Sunday A Ajayi ◽  
Adeleke A. Abiodun
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
African Population ◽  
South African Population ◽  
Black South African ◽  
The Right ◽  
Gross Examination

This journal has been retracted by the Editor.Osteochondroma is a condition characterized by a benign outgrowth of bone  on the surface of another bone. The present study reports the presence of  osteochondroma in the supracondylar region of the right femur of a Black  South African during a routine osteological study. The diameter of the   exostosis measured 15.7 mm at the tip and 26.3 mm at the base. The exostosis is about 30.8 mm from the base of the epicondyle. It is 24.8 mm in length. Gross examination suggests a feature of osteochondroma.Keywords: Femur, Osteochondroma, South Africa, tumor

Anthocyanin polymorphism in seedlings of Eucalyptus fastigata Deane & Maid

1982 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 501 ◽  
Author(s):  
MD Wilcox
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
South African ◽  
New South ◽  
African Population ◽  
South African Population ◽  
Purple Colour ◽  
Mean Frequency ◽  
Intermediate Phenotypes ◽  
South Wales

The undersurface of the cotyledons and first few pairs of leaves of Eucalyptus fastigata seedlings is coloured either green or purple with very few intermediates. The purple colour is assumed to be due to pigmentation by anthocyanins. The frequency of purple, green and intermediate phenotypes was recorded in seedlots of 105 open- pollinated families of five native Australian provenances; one exotic population from South Africa and four exotic populations from New Zealand. The purple phenotype was predominant in the Australian seedlots from the higher altitude, inland provenances of the species' range and in the South African population. The provenance from Tallaganda State Forest in New South Wales showed the highest mean frequency (93%) of purple phenotypes. The green phenotype was prevalent in the New Zealand exotic populations, attaining a frequency of 100% in some, and was also predominant in the provenance from Robertson, N.S.W.

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