Harvesting childhood: causes, nature and impact of child agricultural labour

The 1999 survey of activities of young people in South Africa, conducted by Statistics South Africa, found agriculture to be the third largest employer of children and the nature of employment in commercial agriculture to be high-risk labour. The author shares new research conducted on the child agricultural work and labour in three selected sites in South Africa.

Prevention of extravasation of intravenous computerised tomography contrast media among adult patients in the medical imaging department of an acute tertiary hospital: a best practice implementation project

BACKGROUND Intravenous Computerised Tomography (CT) contrast media extravasation is an uncommon but preventable risk of CT scans. Good screening methods can mitigate this risk, although they cannot eliminate it. OBJECTIVES The aim of this project was to promote best practice administration of CT contrast media in the Medical Imaging Department of the Canberra Hospital and thereby make a contribution to reducing incidence of extravasation from IV CT Contrast Media and improving patient outcomes. METHODS Audit based on best-practice evidence was used to determine screening and extravasation prevention practices in the CT Department of an acute tertiary hospital. This audit surveyed 50 inpatients attending the CT department for CT scan with intravenous contrast. An intervention of poster development, education and discussion of issues identified was instigated and a post-implementation audit was undertaken. RESULTS There was improvement in some areas of clinical practice following an education and awareness program. The need for an assessment tool to assist in determining patients at risk of extravasation was highlighted. Rather than an assessment tool, a poster was developed, and compliance with best practice was improved. Areas for future interventions to close continuing gaps between practice and best practice were identified.Jenni Mossard, Judith Strea

Systematic review to inform prevention and management of chronic disease for Indigenous Australians: overview and priorities

Objective: To describe the main characteristics of systematic reviews addressing questions of chronic disease and related risk factors for Indigenous Australians. Methods: We searched databases for systematic reviews meeting inclusion criteria. Two reviewers assessed quality and extracted characteristics using pre‐defined tools. Results: We identified 14 systematic reviews. Seven synthesised evidence about health intervention effectiveness; four addressed chronic disease or risk factor prevalence; and six conducted critical appraisal as per current best practice. Only three reported steps to align the review with standards for ethical research with Indigenous Australians and/or capture Indigenous‐specific knowledge. Most called for more high‐quality research. Conclusion: Systematic review is an under‐utilised method for gathering evidence to inform chronic disease prevention and management for Indigenous Australians. Relevance of future systematic reviews could be improved by: 1) aligning questions with community priorities as well as decision maker needs; 2) involvement of, and leadership by, Indigenous researchers with relevant cultural and contextual knowledge; iii) use of critical appraisal tools that include traditional risk of bias assessment criteria and criteria that reflect Indigenous standards of appropriate research. Implications: Systematic review method guidance, tools and reporting standards are required to ensure alignment with ethical obligations and promote rigor and relevance

Toward an adequate ECD centre subsidy for children under 5 in South Africa: a costing of centre delivery

The South African government has increasingly recognised the significance of investment in ECD services of different kinds to support child development and protect child rights. Primary health care is free for young children and for pregnant and lactating women, and 2.86 million children from birth to age 4 access a government-financed cash transfer via the Child Support Grant Programme. Since 2001, the government has invested significantly in expanding services for 5-year-olds in a reception year of formal schooling, falling under the Department of Education. This service will be universally available to nearly 1 million children by 2010. Norms and standards for funding the reception year have been legislated, and provincial budget allocations are increasing toward providing for the access and quality requirements. More recently, attention has shifted to the greater challenge of meeting the needs of South Africa's 4.98 million children under 5 years. In 2005 the government produced the National Integrated Plan for ECD, providing for an integrated service package for under-5s, with a focus on poor and vulnerable children. The Plan includes primary health care services, birth registration, child support grants, and early stimulation. These services can be offered via the home, through a range of community programmes, or at early childhood centres. Budgeting for the age group 0-5 falls to three departments at the provincial level: the Department of Health for provision of health services; Education for training of personnel, curriculum guidelines, and learning materials; and Social Development for monitoring and providing funding (not full cost) to agencies offering ECD programmes. To date the latter has largely been for ECD centres, which are estimated to cover only 22.6% of children. Currently a drive to increase centre access and quality is being coordinated through one of the government's leading short-term measures to address poverty, the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). The political commitment for service expansion for under-5s has been demonstrated by the inclusion of ECD in the EPWP and in the APEX3 priorities announced by the president in February 2008. This article examines the costs of sustaining a centre programme at a minimum level of quality and draws out some implications for current budgets. The need to establish an adequate ECD centre subsidy and to scale up ECD provision for under-5s must be understood in the context of the scale of poverty, and its impact on children, in South Africa, as well as in the tradition of limited funding for ECD programmes.

Measuring child poverty in South Africa

Understanding the extent and characteristics of child poverty in South Africa and how these have been changing over time is vital for addressing it. This article reports some of the findings of an analysis of the Income and Expenditure Survey 2005/06 undertaken by the authors to provide more recent and comprehensive child poverty profile.

Child agricultural work in South Africa: a contested space

Children grow up in multiple socio-cultural spaces that structure activities and learning according to local notions of what is appropriate for their development (Super and Harkness 1986; Miller and Goodnow 1995; Rogoff 2003: 18–24). Contradictions across these spaces may be particularly sharp in modernizing societies where long-standing local ‘traditional’ practices and ideologies, such as the duty to contribute to family economic well-being, confront modern rights-based ideologies embedded in instruments such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. While they seek to advance the rights of all children to protection and development, these instruments are also forces for the globalization of the state of childhood and child rights (Myers 2001: 39; Boyden 1990: 194). The purpose of this chapter is to explore the experience of children who engage in agricultural work in South Africa as they grapple with the challenges of rural poverty, obligations to support kin and community, and the demands of school (Bourdillon 2009)

Measuring Child Poverty in South Africa: Sensitivity to the Choice of Equivalence Scale and an Updated Profile

Child poverty measurement and choice of equivalence scale, Child poverty scale and characteristics in South Africa,