South Africa

The aim of this policy is to promote high standards of practice in the recruitment and employment of health professionals who are not South African Citizens or permanent residents in the health sector in South Africa. It attempts to preclude the active recruitment of health professionals from developing countries without specific government agreements. [adapted from author]

In South Africa, emergency contraceptive pills are available directly from pharmacies without a prescription. This study assessed pharmacists’ knowledge of and attitudes toward the medication. [from abstract]

Expanded access to combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) in resource-poor settings is dependent on task shifting from doctors to other health-care providers. We compared outcomes of nurse versus doctor management of ART care for HIV-infected patients. [from summary]

In South Africa the need to integrate HIV, TB and STI programmes has been recognised at a policy and organisation level; the challenge is now one of translating policies into relevant actions and monitoring implementation to ensure that the anticipated benefits of integration are achieved. This research set out to determine how middle level managers could be empowered to monitor the implementation of an effective, integrated HIV/TB/STI service. [from abstract]

This article discusses the implications and issues concerning the implementation of nurse-initiated ART treatment - rather than the legal and regulatory frameworks governing nurse prescibing that dominate the current debate on these types of delivery programs. [adapted from author]

The goal of this tool is to improve the quality of and access to primary health care services, by monitoring and measuring important performance indicators of the health system at district level. It provides an overview of the delivery of primary health care services in the public health sector across the provinces and districts in South Africa by means of an annual publication including data on nurse clinical workload and clinic supervision rate. [adapted from publisher]

This qualitative paper reports on the experience of three community health worker (CHW) supervisors who were responsible for supporting infant feeding peer counsellors. The findings highlight the complexities of supervising and supporting CHWs. [adapted from abstract]

A study across three countries to identify policies which would help recruit and retain health workers in rural areas revealed that there is a danger in one size fits all recommendations when it comes to designing human resource policies. Results also show that there is room for both financial and non-financial incentives in human resource interventions in developing countries. [from author]

This study evaluated whether the provider-initiated HIV testing and counseling approach increased HIV testing amongst patients with a new episode of sexually transmitted infection, as compared to standard voluntary counseling and testing at the primary care level in South Africa, a high prevalence and low resource setting. [from abstract]

HIV scale-up has triggered innovations in nurse training, task shifting, retention, and scope of practice that need not remain HIV specific. Lessons learned in the context of HIV have the potential to enhance nursing practice and human resources for health more generally, strengthening South Africa’s health systems and improving access to effective health services. [from abstract]

This paper presents the experiences, impact and lessons of the innovative approach of working with traditional healers in HIV and TB prevention and control programmes, especially at the primary health care level. [from abstract]

This draft policy framework is intended to provide an effective and efficient occupational workforce to support a comprehensive multidisciplinary health care service; strengthen partnerships between government, civil society and communities to consolidate, manage and focus the services offered by Community Care Workers; and delineate strategies that address systemic change within the complex systems both within the public sector and its partners. [from introduction]

The aim of this study was to provide a baseline assessment in PMTCT in the traditional health sector to determine the views of women who have used the services of traditional practitioners before, during and/or after pregnancy; and to conduct formative research with traditional health practitioners (THPs), i.e. herbalists, diviners and traditional birth attendants on HIV, pregnancy care, delivery and infant care. [adapted from abstract]

These yearly reports reflect the key milestones achieved by the department in its quest to improve the health status of South Africans, through the delivery of accessible, caring and good quality services. Most importantly, the report also reflects the department’s limitations and constraints encountered during the reporting period, which will have to be addressed going forward. [from foreword]

This study tested the feasibility, acceptability, and cost of two models for integrating HIV prevention services, including counseling and testing, within established family planning programs, and evaluated their quality against the standard practice. [from author]

This study sought to gain understanding of the motivations of community service (CS) officers to continue working at the same district hospital for a subsequent year after their obligatory year was over. The objectives were to determine the number of CS officers who actually remained at the same district hospital after completing their CS in 2002, the major factors that influenced them to remain and factors that would encourage the 2003 cohort of CS officers to remain at the same district hospital for an additional year. [from abstract]

The aim of the study was to investigate the profile of South African qualified physicians who had emigrated from South Africa. [from abstract]

This article discusses the prevalence of traditional health practitioners and what South Africa has done to support the cadre, including formalized recognition and licensing through the South African Traditional Health Practitioners Act.

This article describes an attempt at developing a community-based model of stroke care based on the discharge planning of stroke patients, available resources and continuity of care between hospital and community in a remote rural setting in South Africa. [adapted from introduction]

This article reports on cross-sectional survey documenting staff/population ratios in public sector mental health services in South Africa. [from abstract]

This article reports on cross-sectional survey documenting staff/bed ratios in public sector mental health services in South Africa. [from abstract]

This article details the results of a South African study assessing the feasibility of utilizing volunteers in tracing patients who had defaulted from scheduled psychiatric clinic appointments. [adapted from introduction]

This article describes the impact of community service doctors on offsetting the shortage of health professionals in public hospitals in South Africa. [adapted from introduction]

This article describes the imbalance between the influx of foreign nurses and the out-migration of indigenous personnel in South Africa. [adapted from introduction]

This article reports on the obstacles to care and the outcome of treatment for patients presenting with tuberculosis to four hospitals in the rural South African region of Sekhukhuneland. [adapted from article]

This article provides an assessment of the number and types of missed opportunities by health workers for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission in Eastern Cape, South Africa. [adapted from introduction]

This article discusses the estimated requirements and imbalances of province-specific health personnel required for introducing cervical screening in South Africa. [adapted from introduction]

This article offers an analysis of the role community health worker programs and activities in South Africa. [adapted from introduction]

This article discusses the role of traditional healers in pediatric care in South Africa. [adapted from introduction]

This article discusses the feasibility of including traditional healers in the primary health care team to achieve true co-operation between the modern and the traditional health care sector in South Africa. [adapted from introduction]