61 research outputs found
Inter-Religious Cooperation and its Challenges in Schools and Public Life in South Africa
Received 27 August 2018. Accepted 10 September 2018. Published online 30 September 2018.After the collapse of apartheid, South Africa adopted a new political regime in 1994 that promoted democratic values to build a socially cohesive nation out of a fractured past. The post-apartheid state changed its education policies to reflect this democratic framework that recognised, appreciated, and accommodated the diverse reality of the countryâs population. More specifically, Religion Education was incorporated into the school curriculum that focussed on teaching and learning about âreligion, religions, and religious diversityâ (Chidester, 2003, p. 262). Religion Studies was a specialised subject for senior learners that formed part of the Religion Education curriculum. This paper will explore how the post-apartheid South African education policies recognise the value of Religion Studies and its role in creating inter-religious cooperation in the countryâs schools and communities. I will explain the South African Schools Act and National Policy of Religion and Education as two key education policies that underpin the subject Religion Studies. However, while Religion Studies will be shown as aiming to build inter-religious cooperation, I will discuss that this is a challenging process considering that a strong Christian ethos is still promoted by some public schools in the country. I argue that Religion Studies has a transformative role in the South African classroom since it promotes the importance of values in transforming (inter-religious) relationships within schools and outside of them
A Review of the South African National Oral Health Policy
Advocacy for oral health promotion, prevention and treatment of oral diseases is founded on a comprehensive oral health policy that is integrated into the South African National Health Policy. The policy is intended to be a roadmap in the pursuit of achieving optimum oral health for the South African population. To review the National Oral Health Policy of SA (NOHPSA) in terms of context, strengths, weaknesses, implementation and monitoring regarding the oral health status of the SouthAfrican population.Results Promotive and preventive services lack detail on activities to achieve goals. The objectives, although very well defined, cannot be measured and there is no way of knowing whether they have been achieved. It was evident that the policy needs to be reviewed and updated in accordance to recent survey data, population growth and the profile (number and types) of health service providers. The prospect of updating the policy relies on the availability of current epidemiological surveys, which are not available, the most recent survey was conducted in 2002. The policy lacks a monitoring and evaluation plan. This is critical not only for the assessment of actualisation of aims and objectives, but for the sustainability of intended interventions
A review of the South African national oral health policy
INTRODUCTION : Advocacy for oral health promotion, prevention and treatment of oral diseases is founded on a comprehensive oral health policy that is integrated into the South African National Health Policy. The policy is intended to be a roadmap in the pursuit of achieving optimum oral health for the South African population
AIM : To review the National Oral Health Policy of SA (NOHPSA) in terms of context, strengths, weaknesses, implementation and monitoring regarding the oral health status of the South African population
RESULTS : Promotive and preventive services lack detail on activities to achieve goals. The objectives, although very well defined, cannot be measured and there is no way of knowing whether they have been achieved. It was evident that the policy needs to be reviewed and updated in accordance to recent survey data, population growth and the profile (number and types) of health service providers. The prospect of updating the policy relies on the availability of current epidemiological surveys, which are not available, the most recent survey was conducted in 2002
CONCLUSION : The policy lacks a monitoring and evaluation plan. This is critical not only for the assessment of actualisation of aims and objectives, but for the sustainability of intended interventions.https://www.sada.co.za/the-sadjam2022Community Dentistr
Clinical symptoms and chemotherapy completion in elderly patients with newly diagnosed acute leukemia: a retrospective comparison study with a younger cohort
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cancer affects older adults disproportionately. The disease is often difficult to diagnose and treat due to co-morbidities and performance status, and patients tend to discontinue chemotherapy prematurely. There are no systemic studies of the reasons and factors that create a higher withdrawal rate in older acute leukemia patients. This study tried to understand the initial characteristics, blood counts and bone marrow measurements in older acute leukemia patients by comparing them with a younger group to provide information and assistance in early clinical diagnosis, treatment and reasons for treatment withdrawal.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using retrospective medical record reviews, we examined clinical characteristics and chemotherapy completion status in the patients of two groups (age â„ 60, n = 183 and age <60, n = 183) who were diagnosed with acute leukemia for the first time and were hospitalized in Union Hospital Affiliated with Fujian Medical University from 2004 to 2008.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were no statistical differences in initial presenting symptoms of fatigue (67.2% vs. 57.9%, <it>P</it>>0.05) and pallor (53% vs. 59.6%, <it>P</it>>0.05) between the two groups, but older patients demonstrated more underlying diseases including lung infections (25.7%, <it>P </it>= <0.001), cardiovascular disease (4.4%, <it>P </it>= 0.007), and hypertension (20.8%, <it>P </it>=< 0.001). The complete remission rate after chemotherapy (1 to 2 courses) was 49.5% in the older group and 66.7% in the younger group (Ï<sup>2 </sup>= 6.202, <it>P </it>= 0.013). The percentage of patients age 60 and older who prematurely discontinued chemotherapy (50.3%), mainly due to the influences of traditional Chinese concept of critical illness, financial difficulties, and intolerance to adverse reactions to chemotherapy, was significantly higher than that of younger patients (37.7%) (Ï<sup>2 </sup>= 5.866, <it>P </it>= 0.015).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A comprehensive approach to diagnosis, treatment selection, and toxicity management, and implementing strategies to enhance treatment compliance may improve outcomes in older adults with acute leukemia.</p
Validity and reliability of the Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (OIDP) frequency scale: a cross-sectional study of adolescents in Uganda
BACKGROUND: Assessing oral health related quality of life impact of mouth in adolescents is a relatively ignored area in dental research. This study aimed to examine reliability and validity of an abbreviated version of the oral impact of daily performance (OIDP) questionnaire and to analyse the interrelationship among OIDP scores, socio-demographic characteristics and oral health status in Uganda. METHOD: 1146 adolescents (mean age 15.8, response rate 87%) attending secondary schools in Kampala (urban) and Lira (rural) completed a survey instrument designed to measure subjective oral health indicators including the eight-item OIDP frequency scores. A clinical examination was conducted among 372 students (mean age 16.3, response rate 72%) and caries was assessed following the World Health Organisation criteria (1997). RESULTS: 62% of the students experienced at least one oral impact during the 6 months preceding the survey. Cronbach's alpha for the OIDP frequency items was 0.91 and the corrected item-total correlation ranged from 0.62 to 0.75. Discriminant and construct validity were demonstrated in that the OIDP scores varied systematically in the expected direction with missing teeth and self-report indicators of oral health status, respectively. Socio-demographics and dental attendance did not predict OIDP through interaction with clinical indicators but varied systematically and independently with OIDP frequency scores in the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: the OIDP frequency score have acceptable psychometric properties in the context of an oral health survey among Ugandan adolescents. Some evidence of the importance of social and personal characteristics in shaping adolescents' responses to oral disorders was provided
Towards nationally curated data archives for clinical radiology image analysis at scale: Learnings from national data collection in response to a pandemic
The prevalence of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 disease has resulted in the unprecedented collection of health data to support research. Historically, coordinating the collation of such datasets on a national scale has been challenging to execute for several reasons, including issues with data privacy, the lack of data reporting standards, interoperable technologies, and distribution methods. The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 disease pandemic has highlighted the importance of collaboration between government bodies, healthcare institutions, academic researchers and commercial companies in overcoming these issues during times of urgency. The National COVID-19 Chest Imaging Database, led by NHSX, British Society of Thoracic Imaging, Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust and Faculty, is an example of such a national initiative. Here, we summarise the experiences and challenges of setting up the National COVID-19 Chest Imaging Database, and the implications for future ambitions of national data curation in medical imaging to advance the safe adoption of artificial intelligence in healthcare
Utilization of the ART approach in a group of public oral health operators in South Africa: a 5-year longitudinal study
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80990.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: A significant increase in the proportion of restorations to the number of tooth extractions was reported after the introduction of ART in an academic mobile dental service in South Africa. The changes were ascribed to its less threatening procedure. Based on these findings, ART was subsequently introduced into the public oral health service of Ekurhuleni district in the South African province of Gauteng. This article reports on the 5-year restorative treatment pattern of operators in the Ekurhuleni district, who adopted the ART approach into their daily dental practice. METHODS: Of the 21 trained operators, 11 had placed more than 10% of restorations using ART at year 1 and were evaluated after 5 years. Data, including number of restored and extracted teeth and type of restoration, were drawn from clinical records 4 months before, and up to 5 years after training. The restoration/extraction ratio (REX score) and the proportion of ART restorations to the total number of restorations were calculated. The paired sample t-test and linear regression analysis were applied. RESULTS: The mean percentage of ART restorations after 1 year was 24.0% (SE 7.2) and significantly increased annually to 42.7% (SE 9.2) after 5 years in permanent dentitions. In primary dentitions the mean percentage of ART restorations after 1 year was 80.6% (SE 4.9) and 72.6% (SE 8.8) after 5 years. The mean REX score before ART training was 0.08 (SE 0.03) and 0.07 (SE 0.04) for permanent and primary teeth, respectively and 0.11 (SE 0.03) and 0.17 (SE 0.05) after 5 years. CONCLUSION: Five years after training, ART had been used consistently in this selected group of operators as the predominant restorative treatment used for primary teeth and showed a significant annual increase in permanent teeth. However, this change had not resulted in an increase in the REX score in both dentitions
Sustainable workforce: South African audiologists and speech therapists
Background
Audiologists and Speech Therapists play a vital role in addressing sustainable development goals by supporting people who are marginalised due to communication challenges. The global burden of disease and poor social living conditions impact negatively on the development of healthy communication, therefore requiring the services of Audiologist and Speech therapists. Against this background, we examined the demographic profile and the supply, need and shortfall of Audiologists and Speech Therapists in South Africa.
Methods
The data set was drawn from the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) registers (for 2002â2017) for the speech, language and hearing professions. This demographic profile of the professions was created based on the category of health personnel; category of practice, geographical location, population group (race) and sex. The annual supply was estimated from the HPCSA database while the serviceâtarget approach was used to estimate need. Additional need based on National Health Insurance Bill was also included. Supplyâneed gaps were forecast according to three scenarios, which varied according to the future intensity of policy intervention to increase occupancy of training places: âbest guessâ (no intervention), âoptimisticâ (feasible intervention), and âaspirationalâ (significant intervention) scenarios up to 2030.
Results
Most (i.e. 1548, 47.4%) of the professionals are registered as Audiologists and Speech Therapists, followed by 33.5% registered as Speech Therapists and 19.1% registered as Audiologists. Around 88.5% professionals registered as Audiologists and Speech Therapists are practising independently, and 42.6% are practising in the Gauteng province. The profession is comprised majorly of women (94.6%), and in terms of the population groups (race), they are mainly classified as white (59.7%). In 2017, in best guess scenario, there is a supplyâneed gap of around 2800 professionals. In the absence of any intervention to increase supply capacity, this shortfall will remain same by the year 2030. By contrast, in aspirational scenario, i.e. supply is increased by 300%, the forecasted shortfall for 2030 reduces to 2300 from 2800 professionals.
Conclusions
It is clear that without significant interventions, South Africa is likely to have a critical shortfall of Audiologists and Speech Therapists in 2030. Policy-makers will have to carefully examine issues surrounding the current framework regulating training of these and associated professionals, in order to respond adequately to future requirements
Production of trimeric SARSâCoVâ2 spike protein by CHO cells for serological COVIDâ19 testing
We describe scalable and costâefficient production of full length, Hisâtagged severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSâCoVâ2) spike glycoprotein trimer by Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells that can be used to detect SARSâCoVâ2 antibodies in patient sera at high specificity and sensitivity. Transient production of spike in both human embryonic kidney (HEK) and CHO cells mediated by polyethyleneimine was increased significantly (up to 10.9âfold) by a reduction in culture temperature to 32°C to permit extended duration cultures. Based on these data GSâCHO pools stably producing spike trimer under the control of a strong synthetic promoter were cultured in hypothermic conditions with combinations of bioactive small molecules to increase yield of purified spike product 4.9âfold to 53âmg/L. Purification of recombinant spike by Niâchelate affinity chromatography initially yielded a variety of coâeluting protein impurities identified as host cell derived by mass spectrometry, which were separated from spike trimer using a modified imidazole gradient elution. Purified CHO spike trimer antigen was used in enzymeâlinked immunosorbent assay format to detect immunoglobulin G antibodies against SARSâCoVâ2 in sera from patient cohorts previously tested for viral infection by polymerase chain reaction, including those who had displayed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVIDâ19) symptoms. The antibody assay, validated to ISO 15189 Medical Laboratories standards, exhibited a specificity of 100% and sensitivity of 92.3%. Our data show that CHO cells are a suitable host for the production of larger quantities of recombinant SARSâCoVâ2 trimer which can be used as antigen for mass serological testing
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