4 research outputs found
Older Adults Accessing HIV Care and Treatment and Adherence in the IeDEA Central Africa Cohort
Background. Very little is known about older adults accessing HIV care in sub-Saharan Africa. Materials and Methods. Data were obtained from 18,839 HIV-positive adults at 10 treatment programs in Burundi, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We compared characteristics of those aged 50+ with those aged 18â49 using chi-square tests. Logistic regression was used to determine if age was associated with medication adherence. Results. 15% of adults were 50+ years. Those aged 50+ were more evenly distributed between women and men (56% versus 44%) as compared to those aged 18â49 (71% versus 29%) and were more likely to be hypertensive (8% versus 3%) (P < 0.05). Those aged 50+ were more likely to be adherent to their medications than those aged 18â49 (P < 0.001). Adults who were not heavy drinkers reported better adherence as compared to those who reported drinking three or more alcoholic beverages per day (P < 0.001). Conclusions. Older adults differed from their younger counterparts in terms of medication adherence, sociodemographic, behavioral, and clinical characteristics
Adult HIV care resources, management practices and patient characteristics in the Phase 1 IeDEA Central Africa cohort
Introduction: Despite recent advances in the management of HIV infection and increased access to treatment, prevention, care and support, the HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to be a major global health problem, with sub-Saharan Africa suffering by far the greatest humanitarian, demographic and socio-economic burden of the epidemic. Information on HIV/AIDS clinical care and established cohorts’ characteristics in the Central Africa region are sparse. Methods: A survey of clinical care resources, management practices and patient characteristics was undertaken among 12 adult HIV care sites in four countries of the International Epidemiologic Databases to Evaluate AIDS Central Africa (IeDEA-CA) Phase 1 regional network in October 2009. These facilities served predominantly urban populations and offered primary care in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC; six sites), secondary care in Rwanda (two sites) and tertiary care in Cameroon (three sites) and Burundi (one site). Results: Despite some variation in facility characteristics, sites reported high levels of monitoring resources, including electronic databases, as well as linkages to prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission programs. At the time of the survey, there were 21,599 HIV-positive adults (median age=37 years) enrolled in the clinical cohort. Though two-thirds were women, few adults (6.5%) entered HIV care through prevention of mother-to-child transmission services, whereas 55% of the cohort entered care through voluntary counselling and testing. Two-thirds of patients at sites in Cameroon and DRC were in WHO Stage III and IV at baseline, whereas nearly all patients in the Rwanda facilities with clinical stage information available were in Stage I and II. WHO criteria were used for antiretroviral therapy initiation. The most common treatment regimen was stavudine/lamivudine/nevirapine (64%), followed by zidovudine/lamivudine/nevirapine (19%). Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of establishing large clinical cohorts of HIV-positive individuals in a relatively short amount of time in spite of challenges experienced by clinics in resource-limited settings such as those in this region. Country differences in the cohort's site and patient characteristics were noted. This information sets the stage for the development of research initiatives and additional programs to enhance adult HIV care and treatment in Central Africa
Rev Pungula Wellington Dingani : leadership in the Corinthian Church in Phepheni, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Barnard, M., Nell, I. A., Mbaya, H., 2014. Rev Pungula Wellington Dingani : leadership in the Corinthian Church in Phepheni, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Nederduitse Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif, 55(1): 9-28, doi: 10.5952/55-1-2-513.The original publication is available at http://ngtt.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/513Local leadership is crucial in Africa. This article focuses on leadership in
African Independent Churches, more specifically on the leader of a local
congregation of the Corinthian Church, Rev Dingani in Phepheni, Eastern
Cape. The article is composed of two parts. The first part is a portrait of
Dingani, mainly from an emic (inside) point of view. After a biographical
sketch, his ministry and liturgical leadership are outlined, followed by a
portrait of Rev Dingani as a theologian. The second part, which mainly takes
an etic (outside) stance, places this portrait in a wider context of leadership
in African Independent Churches and sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. After
indicating some general features of African leadership, the article focuses
more specifically on two leadership styles: 1. The humane-oriented and
charismatic/value-based style. 2. The participative and autonomous style.
By distinguishing this emic and etic positions, we confront Western and
African epistemologies, without reconciling them in advance.Publishers' versio