Communication

This chapter discusses research on the capacity and effectiveness of government’s communications strategy as South Africa went through the various stages of lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. It probes the working relationship between communications from all spheres of government and community, private, digital, and social media, as well as organised civil society before and during the lockdown and assesses its impact and efficacy. Recognising the multilingual nature of South African society, the urban–rural digital divide, and the prohibitive costs of data, the chapter identifies lessons and reaffirms the relevance of the development communications approach to government– citizen communications. It motivates for the prioritisation of accessible, multilingual digital communications with a citizen feedback loop that is transparent and responsive to ensure people are informed and empowered, as envisioned in the Constitution. Such responsiveness needs an enabling environment from government and from the public, private, and community media landscape. Collaboration and cooperation across these sectors with government communications and with the nongovernmental health and communications sectors is critical in such an all-encompassing crisis. The chapter highlights the need to continue to understand South Africa’s highly diverse communication space, in which digital new media platforms exist alongside loudhailers, and make accommodations in legislation, policy, and government coordination with social partners to reach all people across the digital, class, and language divides.This chapter 4 is published in the first edition of South Africa Covid-19 country report in June 2021.https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202206/sa-covid-19-reporta.pd

Occupational health and safety and the National Public Health Institute of South Africa : deliberations from a national consultative meeting

On 11 November 2015, the National Department of Health (NDoH) published the National Public Health Institute of South Africa (NAPHISA) Draft Bill 2015 for public comment. The aim of the Draft Bill is: '[t]o provide for the establishment of the National Public Health Institute of South Africa in order to conduct disease and injury surveillance and to provide specialised public health services, public health interventions, training and research directed towards the major health challenges affecting the population of the Republic.'http://www.samj.org.zaam2016School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH

Quality of milk obtained in informal channels in Tanzania as revealed by integrated assessments

There is increasing concern regarding the quality and safety of milk collected and consumed in Tanzania. The majority of milk is obtained in informal distribution channels where animals have unknown health status and good milking and handling practices are often not observed. These factors may contribute to the contamination with milk-borne diseases and milk quality loss. Investigations of the dairy value chain in Tanzania included surveys, key informant interviews, participatory rural appraisals, and laboratory analyses. Our results show a dynamic informal milk sector with rural-rural as well as rural-urban value chains with a diversity of consumers who appreciate milk for its nutritional value and show little concern for milk- borne hazards. Milk samples showed high bacteria and coliform counts exceeding standard levels in the East African Community, e.g. total bacterial count of 1.0 × 107 colony forming units per millilitre (cfu/ml) and total coliform counts of 1.1 × 107 cfu/ml. Ten bacteria species were isolated from milk samples, andfive of these, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Listeria monocytogenes, Listeria innocua, Listeria ivanovii, and Klebsiella spp. are rarely reported in Tanzania. Furthermore, adulteration and residues of tetracycline and sulfonamide, were detected. It is recommended to work towards solutions that take an interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approach to promote a product of nutritional value that is safe to consume