Submission on the draft National Health Bill

Written submission to the Portfolio Committee on Health, February 2002

Evaluation of the Western Cape Province Screening Programme for developmental disabilities in pre-school children: full report

This evaluation study was commissioned by the Maternal, Child and Women’s Health (MCWH) Sub-directorate of the Provincial Administration of the Western Cape Department of Health and undertaken by the Children’s Institute, University of Cape Town. The evaluation took place from August 2002 to March 2003. The study was supported by a grant from the Health Systems Trust

Deaths at Red Cross Children's Hospital, Cape Town 1999-2003 - a study of death notification forms

No Abstract. South African Medical Journal Vol. 96(9) (Part 2) 2006: 964-96

School health in South Africa : reflections on the past and prospects for the future

This in-depth report examines the South African school health service, and considers its design and intentions against international models. Across countries of all income levels, the dual role of school health in contributing to both the health and education status of children has been recognised. The paper provides an overview of school health services and the integrated school health policy (ISHP) in particular: its evolution and current implementation progress. The review emphasises need for close collaboration between health and education, regardless of which department leads. It also highlights challenges with modes of delivery, resource constraints, and inter- and intra-sectoral relationships

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in Africa: a scoping review of its application and validation

Child and adolescent mental health in Africa remains largely neglected. Quick and cost-effective ways for early detection may aid early intervention. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is globally used to screen for mental health problems, but little is known about its use in Africa. We set out to perform a scoping review to examine existing studies that have used the SDQ in Africa

The children’s nursing workforce in Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, South Africa and Zambia: generating an initial indication of the extent of the workforce and training activity

Background This study sought to identify, as far as possible, the extent of the specialist children’s nursing workforce in five selected African countries. Strengthening children’s nursing training has been recommended as a primary strategy to reduce the under-five mortality rate in African nations. However, information about the extent of the specialist children’s nursing workforce in this region is not routinely available. Developing an accurate depiction of the specialist children’s nursing workforce is a necessary step towards optimising children’s health service delivery. Methods This study used a convergent parallel mixed methods design, incorporating quantitative (surveys) and qualitative (questionnaire and interview) components, to generate data addressing three related questions: how many children’s nurses are believed to be in practice nationally, how many such nurses are recorded on the national nursing register and how many children’s nurses are being produced through training annually. Results Data provide insights into reported children’s nursing workforce capacity, training activity and national training output in the five countries. Findings suggest there are approximately 3728 children’s nurses across the five countries in this study, with the majority in South Africa. A total of 16 educational programmes leading to a qualification in paediatric nursing or child health nursing are offered by 10 institutions across the countries in this study, with Kenya, Malawi and Zambia having one institution each and South Africa hosting seven. Data suggest that existing human resources for health information systems do not currently produce adequate information regarding the children’s nursing workforce. Analysis of qualitative data elicited two themes: the role of children’s nurses and their position within health systems, and the capacity of HRH information systems to accurately reflect the specialist children’s nursing workforce. Conclusion The data generated provide an initial indication of the size of the children’s nursing workforce in these five countries, as well as an overview of associated training activity. We hope that they can start to inform discussion about what would represent a viable and sustainable regional children’s nursing workforce for the future