scholarly journals Availability and use of therapeutic interchange policies in managing antimicrobial shortages among South African public sector hospitals

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey Komborerai Chigome ◽  
Moliehi Matlala ◽  
Brian Godman ◽  
Johanna Catharina Meyer
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
South African ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
The Past ◽  
Benzathine Benzylpenicillin ◽  
Therapeutic Interchange ◽  
Resistance Rates

Abstract Background: Therapeutic interchange policies in hospitals are useful in dealing with antimicrobial shortages and minimising resistance rates. However, the extent of antimicrobial shortages and availability of therapeutic interchange policies is unknown among public sector hospitals in South Africa. Objective This study aimed to ascertain the extent of antimicrobial shortages among public sector hospitals, the presence of current therapeutic interchange policies and the role of pharmacists in the process. Setting Public sector hospitals in South Africa. Methods: A quantitative and descriptive study was conducted with a target population of 403 public sector hospitals. Data were collected from hospital pharmacists using an electronic questionnaire, administered via SurveyMonkeyTM. Main outcome measure Prevalence of public sector hospitals with antimicrobial shortages over the past six months and the prevalence of hospitals with therapeutic interchange policies. Results: The response rate was 33.5%. Most (83.3%) hospitals had experienced shortages in the previous six months. Antimicrobials commonly reported as out of stock included cloxacillin (54.3%), benzathine benzylpenicillin (54.2%), erythromycin (39.6%) and ceftriaxone (38.0%). Reasons for shortages included pharmaceutical companies with supply constraints (85.3%) and an inefficient supply system. Only 42.4% had therapeutic interchange policies, and 88.9% contacted the prescriber when there was a need for substitution. Conclusions: Antimicrobial shortages are prevalent in South African public sector hospitals with penicillins and cephalosporins being the most affected. Therapeutic interchange policies are not available at most hospitals. Effective strategies are required to improve communication between pharmacists and prescribers to ensure safe, appropriate and therapeutically equivalent alternatives are available.

scholarly journals Availability and Use of Therapeutic Interchange Policies in Managing Antimicrobial Shortages among South African Public Sector Hospitals; Findings and Implications

Antibiotics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey K. Chigome ◽  
Moliehi Matlala ◽  
Brian Godman ◽  
Johanna C. Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
South African ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Pharmaceutical Companies ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
Benzathine Benzylpenicillin ◽  
Therapeutic Interchange ◽  
Resistance Rates

Background: Therapeutic interchange policies in hospitals are useful in dealing with antimicrobial shortages and minimising resistance rates. The extent of antimicrobial shortages and availability of therapeutic interchange policies is unknown among public sector hospitals in South Africa. This study aimed to ascertain the extent of and rationale for dealing with antimicrobial shortages, describe policies or guidelines available, and the role of pharmacists in the process. Methods: A quantitative and descriptive study was conducted with a target population of 403 public sector hospitals. Data were collected from hospital pharmacists using an electronic questionnaire via SurveyMonkeyTM. Results: The response rate was 33.5% and most (83.3%) hospitals had experienced shortages in the previous six months. Antimicrobials commonly reported as out of stock included cloxacillin (54.3%), benzathine benzylpenicillin (54.2%), and erythromycin (39.6%). Reasons for shortages included pharmaceutical companies with supply constraints (85.3%) and an inefficient supply system. Only 42.4% had therapeutic interchange policies, and 88.9% contacted the prescriber, when present, for substitution. Conclusions: Antimicrobial shortages are prevalent in South African public sector hospitals with the most affected being penicillins and cephalosporins. Therapeutic interchange policies are not available at most hospitals. Effective strategies are required to improve communication between pharmacists and prescribers to ensure that safe, appropriate, and therapeutically equivalent alternatives are available.

scholarly journals Die rol van en beperkings op die regbank om sosiale vrede in Suid-Afrika te bevorder

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Eberhard Bertelsmann
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
Unethical Conduct ◽  
High Court ◽  
The Past ◽  
The North ◽  
Court Administration ◽  
Lying Down

Judge Eberhard Bertelsmann of the North Gauteng High Court delivered the address published here as he delivered it in Afrikaans in the series of FW de Klerk lectures in Potchefstroom on 20 February 2012.  He dealt with the role of and limitations on the judiciary to promote social peace in South Africa, pointing out the achievements of the courts in the establishment of the constitutional dispensation over the past decades.  He however also showed that the courts are over-burdened and that court administration leaves much to be desired.  Litigants and practitioners do not hesitate to abuse the system and ugly incidents of unethical conduct have marred the professions.  Judges however do not take these trends lying down and measures to rectify the situation are well underway.  Fair, understandable, predictable and speedy adjudication without fear, favour or prejudice continues to be the contribution of judges to the protection of the South African democracy.

scholarly journals EXPLORING ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION IN THE PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS (HEIs) IN SOUTH AFRICA (SA)

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 516-520
Author(s):  
Robert Walter Dumisani Zondo
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Entrepreneurship Education ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Private Higher Education ◽  
The South ◽  
Private Higher Education Institutions

The role of educators in education is indispensable. Hence, students continuously search for a business education that can equip them with the necessary entrepreneurial knowledge and skills to succeed in running businesses. Consequently, this study evaluates the perception of Academic Managers in the private Higher Education Institutions (HEI) of South Africa (SA) on the significance of entrepreneurship education. It explores the reasons for offering such an education in the private HEIs in SA. There were 78 private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in SA that were identified for participation in this study. These institutions are registered in terms section 54 (1) (c) of the South African Act (SAQA, 2012). For the study to achieve its objectives, the South African Qualification Authority (SAQA) provided a sample frame of all the private HEIs in SA. From the 78 HEIs identified, 22 offered the pastoral courses and were excluded from the study. As a result, a target population of 56 HEIs participated in the study. This research has two objectives. That is, examining the perception of Academic Managers on entrepreneurship education, and the reasons for offering such education in the private HEIs in SA. This study uncovers the need for entrepreneurship education in private HEIs of SA. The results present the value of entrepreneurship education as a practice that develops students into cross functional innovative thinkers. It provides valuable data relating to the significance of entrepreneurship education for developing students into business minded individuals.

scholarly journals Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa: the role of the faith communities

2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
P G J Meiring
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Democratic Society ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Faith Communities ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
The Past

Ten years after the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission commenced with its work (1995), the author – using the statements made by representatives of the different faith communities in South Africa – analyses the role the communities played in the past: as agents of oppression, as victims of apartheid, as opponents of apartheid, as well as their role in the country’s transition to a new democratic society. Finally, the contribution of the faith communities in the process of reconciliation and nation building is discussed.

Nurses, industrial action and ethics

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 819-837 ◽  
Author(s):  
André J van Rensburg ◽  
Dingie J van Rensburg
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
South African ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
Unethical Behaviour ◽  
Industrial Action ◽  
Wage Negotiation

Several important ethical dilemmas emerge when nurses join a public-sector strike. Such industrial action is commonplace in South Africa and was most notably illustrated by a national wage negotiation in 2010. Media coverage of the proceedings suggested unethical behaviour on the part of nurses, and further exploration is merited. Laws, policies and provisional codes are meant to guide nurses’ behaviour during industrial action, while ethical theories can be used to further illuminate the role of nurses in industrial action. There are, however, important aspects to consider before judging whether nurses act unethically when striking. Following Loewy’s suggestion that the nature of the work, the proceeding commitment of the nurse to the patient, the prevailing situation when the strike is planned and the person(s) who stand(s) to benefit from the strike be considered, coupled with a consideration of the South African historical socio-political context, important aspects of the ethics of nurses’ behaviour in industrial action transpire.

Learning Zulu

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Sanders
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
South African ◽  
Press Coverage ◽  
African History ◽  
African Culture ◽  
The Past ◽  
Correct Form ◽  
Linguistic Purism

When this book's author began studying Zulu, he was often questioned why he was learning it. This book places the author's endeavors within a wider context to uncover how, in the past 150 years of South African history, Zulu became a battleground for issues of property, possession, and deprivation. The book combines elements of analysis and memoir to explore a complex cultural history. Perceiving that colonial learners of Zulu saw themselves as repairing harm done to Africans by Europeans, the book reveals deeper motives at work in the development of Zulu-language learning—from the emergence of the pidgin Fanagalo among missionaries and traders in the nineteenth century to widespread efforts, in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, to teach a correct form of Zulu. The book looks at the white appropriation of Zulu language, music, and dance in South African culture, and at the association of Zulu with a martial masculinity. In exploring how Zulu has come to represent what is most properly and powerfully African, the book examines differences in English- and Zulu-language press coverage of an important trial, as well as the role of linguistic purism in xenophobic violence in South Africa. Through one person's efforts to learn the Zulu language, the book explores how a language's history and politics influence all individuals in a multilingual society.

ROLE OF LIBRARIANS IN TEACHING INFORMATION LITERACY IN ZIMBABWEAN AND SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tinashe Mugwisi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
University Libraries ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
Information Skills ◽  
The University

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the Internet have to a large extent influenced the way information is made available, published and accessed. More information is being produced too frequently and information users now require certain skills to sift through this multitude in order to identify what is appropriate for their purposes. Computer and information skills have become a necessity for all academic programmes. As libraries subscribe to databases and other peer-reviewed content (print and electronic), it is important that users are also made aware of such sources and their importance. The purpose of this study was to examine the teaching of information literacy (IL) in universities in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and the role played by librarians in creating information literate graduates. This was done by examining whether such IL programmes were prioritised, their content and how frequently they were reviewed. An electronic questionnaire was distributed to 12 university libraries in Zimbabwe and 21 in South Africa. A total of 25 questionnaires were returned. The findings revealed that IL was being taught in universities library and non-library staff, was compulsory and contributed to the term mark in some institutions. The study also revealed that 44 per cent of the total respondents indicated that the libraries were collaborating with departments and faculty in implementing IL programmes in universities. The study recommends that IL should be an integral part of the university programmes in order to promote the use of databases and to guide students on ethical issues of information use.

A Review of Medical Waste Management in South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olaniyi FC ◽  
Ogola JS ◽  
Tshitangano TG
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
South African ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Medical Waste ◽  
African Government ◽  
The Past ◽  
Government Documents ◽  
Medical Waste Management

Background:Poor medical waste management has been implicated in an increase in the number of epidemics and waste-related diseases in the past years. South Africa is resource-constrained in the management of medical waste.Objectives:A review of studies regarding medical waste management in South Africa in the past decade was undertaken to explore the practices of medical waste management and the challenges being faced by stakeholders.Method:Published articles, South African government documents, reports of hospital surveys, unpublished theses and dissertations were consulted, analysed and synthesised. The studies employed quantitative, qualitative and mixed research methods and documented comparable results from all provinces.Results:The absence of a national policy to guide the medical waste management practice in the provinces was identified as the principal problem. Poor practices were reported across the country from the point of medical waste generation to disposal, as well as non-enforcement of guidelines in the provinces where they exit. The authorized disposal sites nationally are currently unable to cope with the enormous amount of the medical waste being generated and illegal dumping of the waste in unapproved sites have been reported. The challenges range from lack of adequate facilities for temporary storage of waste to final disposal.Conclusion:These challenges must be addressed and the practices corrected to forestall the adverse effects of poorly managed medical waste on the country. There is a need to develop a medical waste policy to assist in the management of such waste.

scholarly journals Truth and reconciliation in South Africa: Hindu experiences and concerns

2004 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
P.G.J. Meiring
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Faith Communities ◽  
The South ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Hindu Community ◽  
The Way

The author who served on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), focuses on the Hindu experience in South Africa during the apartheid years. At a special TRC Hearing for Faith Communities (East London, 17-19 November 1997) two submissions by local Hindu leaders were tabled. Taking his cues from those submissions, the author discusses four issues: the way the Hindu community suffered during these years, the way in which some members of the Hindu community supported the system of apartheid, the role of Hindus in the struggle against apartheid, and finally the contribution of the Hindu community towards reconciliation in South Africa. In conclusion some notes on how Hindus and Christians may work together in th

Ethnicity and Voting Patterns in South Africa

1979 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 458-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Lever
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Categorical Data ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Party Choice ◽  
Political Choices ◽  
Electoral Behaviour ◽  
Log Linear ◽  
Published Research

There is some controversy concerning the role of ethnicity in South African electoral behaviour. Since the society is segmented on ethnic lines it is to be expected that ethnicity would play a crucial role in affecting political choices. Some writers have gone so far as to suggest that ethnicity is the only significant factor affecting voting preferences. The controversy arose at a time when Goodman's method of log-linear analysis for hierarchical models had not yet been developed. This method provides the most powerful tool available for the multivariate analysis of categorical data. A re-analysis of previously published research using Goodman's method shows that ethnicity is not the only significant factor having a bearing on voting preferences. The first four-way table of voting preferences in South Africa is presented. The order of importance of the variables affecting party choice is: (1) ethnicity (2) socio-economic status (3) age of the voter. The recursive model suggested by the analysis explains approximately 98 per cent of the data.

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