Tag: South Africa

Categories : UncategorizedTags :

Breast Cancer Patients in Public Healthcare System Face Great Obstacles

On By ModernMedia

In an in-depth article, the Daily Maverick reports on the huge challenges that breast cancer sufferers face in obtaining treatment from the public healthcare sector in South Africa.

A diagnosis might take up to six months, whereas one can be obtained in a space of weeks in private healthcare. Breast reconstructions are not available under public healthcare, forcing the survivor to find some way of hiding the disfigurement. The critical drug trastuzumab is classed as an unfunded mandate even in the Western Cape. Yet in the private sector, it is a prescribed minimum benefit. There are language barriers for patients, and a lack of palliative care medicines upon discharge. They also are not connected online, and cannot engage with initiatives such as Pinktober. In a country beset by gender-based violence and inequality, women’s health often is not a priority.

The remedy still lags very far behind. Since its inception in 2017, The Breast Cancer Control Policy has not been implemented anywhere in South Africa. In order to implement this policy, registered nurses have their job descriptions updated to include a primary modality of breast cancer screenings.

The COVID pandemic has set back progress even further, with care being postponed and many hospices being forced to close.

Categories : COVIDTags :

SA Medicinal Plants Show a COVID Treatment Promise in New Study

On By ModernMedia

Researchers at the Durban University of Technology and the University of KwaZulu-Natal have been examining plants used in traditional African medicine to see if they have any application in treating COVID.

There has been increasing interest in investigating medicinal plants for compounds to use in the treatment of COVID, which still lacks an effective treatment despite effective vaccines being demonstrated.

The researchers began with 29 compounds from medicinal plants known to be effective in treating the common cold, flu, other respiratory conditions, as well as their antimalarial, antiviral and antioxidant activity.

Using a biocomputational approach that does simulated “molecular docking” with various compounds and the known molecules of SARS-CoV-2, the researchers found a number of plants, including the Rooibos bush, contained useful compounds. These displayed favourable binding orientations and were thus identified as being potential inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain and SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent polymerase. Four compounds showed extremely good binding to the virus, indicating that they may prevent viral replication.

The next stage of their work will be an in vitro study, before moving onto animal models but is contingent on the team being able to secure funding.

Source: The Conversation

Categories : COVIDTags :

Activists to Pressure SA Government over COVID Vaccine

On By ModernMedia

With the recent news that Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines both have over a 90% efficacy, and air cargo carriers are standing ready to transport them, concerns are mounting that South Africa, with no deals to access vaccines, will be left out in the scramble by richer countries to secure vaccines.

Mark Heywood, executive director of Section27 and a veteran activist, said: “Now that vaccines are becoming available, our government must use all its powers to ensure that people in South Africa have equal access. Neither price nor patents should be an obstacle, and government must start now to think about the systems that will be needed to ensure the smooth distribution of the vaccine, starting for those with the highest risk of Covid-19.”

Dr Anthonet Koen, principal investigator at a COVID vaccine trial site, said: “It’s important that we get a vaccine that’s right, especially for South Africa. We often get overseen and get left behind when it comes to life-saving treatments. If you think about HIV, we were last in line to get access to antiretrovirals, and we don’t want that to happen.”
Koen dispelled any possibility of a vaccine being available before the year is out. “We need to be realistic about this… but hopefully within the first quarter of 2021 we will have something.”

Health Minister Zweli Mkhizi reiterated that there was no vaccine for now, “so we need to adhere to containment measures”.

Not only the vaccine’s acquisition but its logistics for distribution must be taken into account. Economist Mike Schussler said, “The entire supply chain will have to be considered. What we know is that if we had to do half of the South African population it would cost about R40  billion, and that’s highly problematic and unaffordable so we have to think strategically about this.”

Source: IOL

Categories : HIVTags :

HIV Death Rates in Men Far Exceed Women in SA

On By ModernMedia

At a virtual conference on Tuesday, the South African National AIDS Council (Sanac) showcased their updated Thembisa model, which is the definitive model for HIV prevalence and incidence in the country.

Between 2000 and 2019, there was a 57% drop in incidence, or new infections, which falls short of the UN target of 75% reduction.  Antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage is 71% of those infected with HIV.

About 13% of South Africans are currently living with HIV, which is partly a result of longer life expectancy thanks to ART. Among female sex workers, the prevalence is 55%. Due to biological and social factors, the prevalence rate is higher among women but the death rate from HIV is higher in men, due to less ART coverage than in women.

The new Thembisa model also showed the country’s progress towards UNAIDS 90-90-90 model (90% knowing their HIV status, 90% on ART, 90% viral suppression). Although 94% of women and 91% of men knew their statuses, only 74% of women and 71% of men were on ART. Fortunately, 92% of both sexes achieved viral suppression. 

SA’s National Strategic Plan for HIV, TB and STIs is due to be renewed in 2022.

Source: Daily Maverick

Categories : HIVTags :

Eradication of Polio in Africa Boosted Public Health

On By ModernMedia

A story in Medical Xpress discusses the eradication of polio in Africa – officially declared polio-free on August 2020 – and how the campaign for its elimination reaped many other side benefits for public healthcare on the continent.

Polio, alongside smallpox which has now been eradicated worldwide, is one of the great success stories of vaccination: 350 000 people were paralysed by polio in 1988, and in 2019 only 175 people were.

The current effort started in 1996, when African heads of state resolved to eliminate polio on the African continent, and Nelson Mandela launched the “Kick Polio out of Africa” campaign. Collaborations between all sectors of civil society came together to achieve the goal. Vaccination is followed up with surveillance – 3 consecutive disease-free years are needed to certify eradication in an area. Polio was close to eradication 20 years ago, but vaccine hesitancy – a key concern for future COVID vaccination – was spread by misinformation and undermined the efforts.

Africa now has stronger public health systems thanks to the investments made, and developments such as new innovations to deliver vaccines and a renewed demand for vaccine services.

Categories : UncategorizedTags :

Dis-Chem Continues to Grow, Eyes Medical Insurance Sector

On By ModernMedia

According to Moneyweb, the JSE-listed Dis-Chem group has announced that it is seeking to acquire an as yet unnamed medical insurance group, withholding the payout of dividends to pay for the expansion.

Earlier this year, it also announced plans to acquire Baby City for R430 million. It is also apparently “investigating” the acquisition of a community-based pharmacy group. In justifying the motivation for the deal, the group said: “Covid-19 has highlighted that individuals and companies are more prepared than ever to spend on healthcare and has also led to a deeper understanding of the importance of mental health, accelerating the need for companies to provide support to employees and their families.

“Through this transaction, the group will benefit from vertical integration into the health value chain, with access to a unique set of assets, in a sector of the healthcare market that is experiencing rapid and sustainable growth,” the group continued.

“All this at margins that are significantly higher than those in the core retail business. This investment also provides access to segments of the population who have historically not been covered by the private healthcare sector. In so doing it will assist in providing deeper access to healthcare to a wider and under-served community,” Dis-Chem concluded.