The South African constitution and electronic commerce

In the world of electronic commerce individuals unwittingly impart their information to possible predators of personal information. For example, cookies are used to “tag” users accessing a specific web site. When the user accesses the same site again, a copy of the cookie alerts the remote server, who then knows whom the user is and that s/he visited the site before. Obtaining and dealing in data about web users have become everyday occurrences – in some instances such “data mining” forms the main focus of several businesses. It is common cause that the Internet may be and indeed is used quite frequently in manners that infringe various rights contained in our Bill of Rights. In many cases, what happens on the Internet may also attract criminal liability. As a result it often happens that two fundamental rights, namely the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy, come into potential conflict. In a democracy, freedom of expression is almost taken for granted. The press and other media, especially, rely heavily on this right. In South Africa, section 16(1) of the Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression, which includes, among others, freedom of the press and other media; freedom to receive or impart information or ideas; freedom of artistic creativity; academic freedom and freedom of scientific research. As such, it may be that spammers have the constitutional right to commercial expression. The question is: Do spammers have the right to express themselves in private property? It is suggested that they be only allowed to do so after having obtained the consent of the individual to be included in a mailing list that would be used to send unsolicited e-mail advertising. Section 45 of the Electronic Communications Transactions Act of 2002 (ECTA) now prohibits the sending of unsolicited goods, services or communications. The right to privacy is protected by section 14 of the South African Constitution. In contrast thereto, section 32 of the Constitution guarantees the right to access to information. Neither of these rights are absolute rights, as they may be limited in accordance with section 36 of the Constitution. The ECTA prescribes that suppliers of goods on the Internet need to, amongst others, make its privacy statement available to users of its site. The ensuring of the right to privacy is not, however, a compulsory provision of ECTA. Section 50 of the ECTA provides for the voluntary compliance of the principles pertaining to the collection of personal information as set out in section 51 of the Act. Against this background, this paper addresses the South African legal background to privacy on the Internet

Continuing Conversations at the Frontier

Researchers involved or interested in the 500 Year Initiative (FYI) gathered at the University of Cape Town in June 2008 to explore how different disciplines engaged in historical studies may better communicate and collaborate within and between each other. Appropriately titled ‘Continuing Conversations at the Frontier’, participants in this conference challenged themselves to cross the theoretical and methodological borders separating archaeology, history, geography, anthropology and linguistics, in order to understand how and under what influence modern southern African identities have taken shape over the past 500 years. These conversations made it clear that new insights are not only reliant on new data, but that it is equally important to expose our methodologies and processes of gaining understanding. In addition to confronting disciplinary boundaries and methods, social and spatial frontiers were key loci for discussion, although it became apparent that historians and archaeologists have approached frontiers in different ways. We briefly explore the roots of these approaches

Abacavir: its use and hypersensitivity

Abacavir, a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, is useful in first- and second-line HIV therapy and as a substitute for stavudine and zidovudine when toxicity is a problem. Although it is safe and well tolerated, a  lifethreatening hypersensitivity reaction can occur. The risk for developing this reaction relates to the presence of specific genotypes, especially HLA-B*5701

MtDNA population variation in Myalgic encephalomyelitis/Chronic fatigue syndrome in two populations: a study of mildly deleterious variants

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating condition. There is growing interest in a possible etiologic or pathogenic role of mitochondrial dysfunction and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation in ME/CFS. Supporting such a link, fatigue is common and often severe in patients with mitochondrial disease. We investigate the role of mtDNA variation in ME/CFS. No proven pathogenic mtDNA mutations were found. We then investigated population variation. Two cohorts were analysed, one from the UK (n = 89 moderately affected; 29 severely affected) and the other from South Africa (n = 143 moderately affected). For both cohorts, ME/CFS patients had an excess of individuals without a mildly deleterious population variant. The differences in population variation might reflect a mechanism important to the pathophysiology of ME/CFS

Open-coast sandy beaches and coastal dunes

Coastal ecosystems are centres of high biological productivity, but their conservation is often threatened by numerous and complex environmental factors. Citing examples from the major littoral habitats worldwide, such as sandy beaches, salt marshes and mangrove swamps, this text characterises the biodiversity of coastline environments and highlights important aspects of their maintenance and preservation, aided by the analysis of key representative species. Leaders in the field provide reviews of the foremost threats to coastal networks, including the effects of climate change, invasive species and major pollution incidents such as oil spills. Further discussion underscores the intricacies of measuring and managing coastline species in the field, taking into account the difficulties in quantifying biodiversity loss due to indirect cascading effects and trophic skew. Synthesising the current state of species richness with present and projected environmental pressures, the book ultimately establishes a research agenda for implementing and improving conservation practices moving forward. [Book Synopsis

Standardized methods for enhanced quality and comparability of tuberculous meningitis studies

Tuberculous meningitis remains a major cause of death and disability in tuberculosis endemic areas, especially in young children and immunocompromised adults. Research aimed at improving outcomes is hampered by poor standardization, which limits study comparison and the generalizability of results. We propose standardized methods for the conduct of tuberculous meningitis clinical research that were drafted at an international tuberculous meningitis research meeting organized by the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam. We propose a core dataset including demographic and clinical information to be collected at study enrolment, important aspects related to patient management and monitoring, and standardized reporting of patient outcomes. The criteria proposed for the conduct of observational and intervention tuberculous meningitis studies should improve the quality of future research outputs, facilitate multi-centre studies and meta-analyses of pooled data, and could provide the foundation for a global tuberculous meningitis data repository

Not interesting enough to be followed by the NSA: An analysis of Dutch privacy attitudes

Open curtains and a careless attitude. The Dutch are described as holding an indifferent stance towards privacy in the aftermath of Snowden’s revelations of far-reaching government surveillance. But are Dutch reactions as aloof as often claimed? This study provides an in-depth overview of privacy attitudes in the Dutch debate about the National Security Agency (NSA) leaks, showing a greater variety of sentiments than anticipated. A qualitative frame analysis and a quantitative descriptive analysis resulted in six frames, which convey distinct privacy attitudes. Online and offline as well as professional and non-journalistic content in the debate displays a different distribution of frames. The frames, ranging from an “End justifies the means” attitude to an anxious fear of an “Orwellian dystopia”, are placed in a larger framework as the research demonstrates the connection to existing theories about privacy and surveillance. Dutch discussions about the NSA revelations often display a trade-off narrative balancing safety against privacy, and include (de)legitimisation strategies. These outcomes are in line with previous studies about mediated surveillance debates, which indicates that privacy attitudes transcend national boundaries. However, the inclusion of user-generated content adds an individual dimension to the existing body of research and reveals a personal perspective on surveillance issues

A comparison of the pharmacokinetics of Aspen Ceftriaxone and Rocephin in community-acquired meningitis

BACKGROUND. Community-acquired bacterial meningitis (CABM) is a life-threatening condition that is common among immunocompromised individuals. Intravenous ceftriaxone, of which Rocephin (ROC) is the originator brand, is recommended as first-line therapy in South Africa. Despite concerns regarding therapeutic equivalence with generic agents, this is the first study that has been conducted comparing clinical pharmacokinetics (PK) of a generic ceftriaxone formulation with the originator. OBJECTIVE. To compare the PK and safety of Aspen Ceftriaxone (AC) and ROC in the treatment of adult CABM. METHODS. A total of 63 eligible patients were randomised 1:1 to receive 2 g of either medication twice daily for a duration based on the identity of the causative organism and their physician’s clinical judgment. The primary endpoint of this study was the comparison of clinical PK, specifically the concentrations of each drug in the cerebrospinal fluid with corresponding paired plasma samples. While this study was underpowered to assess efficacy, safety could be evaluated on the basis of reported adverse events. RESULTS. The two patient groups were epidemiologically similar. There were no statistically significant differences in PK between either agent, nor any difference with regard to safety. CONCLUSION. AC can be considered as equivalent to ROC with regard to PK and safety in patients with CABM.Aspen Pharmacare Ltd, SA.http://www.samj.org.zaam2014ay201

Early severe morbidity and resource utilization in South African adults on antiretroviral therapy

BACKGROUND:High rates of mortality and morbidity have been described in sub-Saharan African patients within the first few months of starting highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). There is limited data on the causes of early morbidity on HAART and the associated resource utilization. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted of medical admissions at a secondary-level hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. Patients on HAART were identified from a register and HIV-infected patients not on HAART were matched by gender, month of admission, and age group to correspond with the first admission of each case. Primary reasons for admission were determined by chart review. Direct health care costs were determined from the provider's perspective. RESULTS: There were 53 in the HAART group with 70 admissions and 53 in the no-HAART group with 60 admissions. The median duration of HAART was 1 month (interquartile range 1-3 months). Median baseline CD4 count in the HAART group was 57 x 106 cells/L (IQR 15-115). The primary reasons for admission in the HAART group were more likely to be due to adverse drug reactions and less likely to be due to AIDS events than the no-HAART group (34% versus 7%; p < 0.001 and 39% versus 63%; p = 0.005 respectively). Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome was the primary reason for admission in 10% of the HAART group. Lengths of hospital stay per admission and inpatient survival were not significantly different between the two groups. Five of the 15 deaths in the HAART group were due to IRIS or adverse drug reactions. Median costs per admission of diagnostic and therapeutic services (laboratory investigations, radiology, intravenous fluids and blood, and non-ART medications) were higher in the HAART group compared with the no-HAART group (US$190 versus US$111; p = 0.001), but the more expensive non-curative costs (overhead, capital, and clinical staff) were not significantly different (US$1199 versus US$1128; p = 0.525). CONCLUSIONS: Causes of early morbidity are different and more complex in HIV-infected patients on HAART. This results in greater resource utilization of diagnostic and therapeutic services

Spatial variability in sustainable development trajectories in South Africa:provincial level safe and just operating spaces

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represents the first globally agreed framework to address human development and environmental stewardship in an integrated way. One approach to summarising national SDG status is our “barometer for inclusive sustainable development in South Africa”. The barometer downscales global social and planetary boundaries to provide status and trends for 20 critical indicators of environmental stress and social deprivation. In this paper, we explore the sub-national heterogeneity in sustainable development indicators by creating barometers defining the ‘safe and just operating space’ for South Africa’s nine provinces. Our results show that environmental stress varies significantly and provinces need to focus on quite different issues. Although generally environmental stress is increasing, there are areas where it is decreasing, most notably, marine harvesting. Social deprivation results show more of a pattern with high levels of deprivation in employment, income and safety across the provinces, and historically disadvantaged provinces showing the most deprivation overall. Although deprivation is generally decreasing, there are notable exceptions such as food security in six provinces. Our provincial barometers and trend plots are novel in that they present comparable environmental and social data on key indicators over time for all South Africa’s provinces. They are visual tools that communicate the range of key challenges and risks that provincial governments face, and are non-specialist and accessible to a range of audiences. In addition, the paper provides a critical case study of spatial disaggregation of national data that is required for the SDGs implementation