CAN WE LEGISLATE FOR PREVENTION AND EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES FOR CHILDREN? AN ANALYSIS OF ASPECTS OF THE 2002 DRAFT CHILDREN’S BILL

This article provides an explanation and critical analysis of the prevention and early intervention provisions in the South African Law Commission ‘s 2002 Draft Children’s Bill. In addition, the inter-sectoral approach provided for in the Draft Bill and the proposed national policy framework are evaluated. Innovative recommendations that would allow child and family courts to issue early intervention orders are discussed. It is contended in the article that if the prevention and early intervention provisions in the Draft Bill were to be translated into legislation, this could produce significant consequences. It would cause a fundamental shift in balance between proactive and reactive social work services for children in South Africa

Evaluation of transition services for young people with cystic fibrosis in Southeast London

We report a project being launched to evaluate transition services for young people with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) living in Southeast London, UK, and attending either King's College Hospital (KCH) or University Hospital Lewisham (UHL). © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd

Making it work: a workforce guide for disability service providers

This guide provides strategies for disability service providers to draw upon when creating and sustaining a workforce of support workers to meet the aims of DisabilityCare Australia and implement the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013. In particular, the Guide is designed to assist providers develop a workforce strategy that will enable support workers to: i)    support the independence and social and economic participation of people with disability ii)    provide reasonable and necessary supports, and iii)    enable people with disability to exercise choice and control in the pursuit of their goals and the planning and delivery of their supports. The essence of DisabilityCare Australia is to be supportive, responsive, flexible and creative. This Guide offers a wealth of ideas and practical suggestions without being prescriptive. It includes ideas relating directly to support workers as well as to their interactions with service users and their employing service provider, and there are varying cost implications. The Guide does not attempt to provide one integrated workforce management strategy. Instead, it is intended that providers will take away ideas to develop their own unique workforce strategy relevant to their environment and provider type. The aim of this guide is to contribute to the development of enthusiastic, competent and satisfied workers who will embrace the aims of DisabilityCare Australia and provide excellent support to people with disability. The Guide is organised around the following themes: Communication Organisational culture, values and expectations Recruitment Flexible, responsive and creative work Training, mentoring and support Recognition and incentives Career Pathways Authors: Dr Carmel Laragy, RMIT University Associate Professor Paul Ramcharan, RMIT University Associate Professor Karen Fisher, Social Policy Research Centre, University of NSW Karen McCraw, CEO, Karden Disability Support Foundation Robbi Williams, CEO, Purple Orange (Julia Farr Foundation

When Are Vaccine Mandates Appropriate?

Vaccine refusal is a serious public health problem, especially in the context of diseases with potential to spark global pandemics, such as Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This article examines whether and when compelling vaccination through mandates and criminalization, for example, are appropriate. It argues that some legal approaches are ethical when they preserve social stability, trust in government, therapeutic research opportunities, or when they diminish disease severity

Scaffolds for 3D in vitro culture of neural lineage cells.

Understanding how neurodegenerative disorders develop is not only a key challenge for researchers but also for the wider society, given the rapidly aging populations in developed countries. Advances in this field require new tools with which to recreate neural tissue in vitro and produce realistic disease models. This in turn requires robust and reliable systems for performing 3D in vitro culture of neural lineage cells. This review provides a state of the art update on three-dimensional culture systems for in vitro development of neural tissue, employing a wide range of scaffold types including hydrogels, solid porous polymers, fibrous materials and decellularised tissues as well as microfluidic devices and lab-on-a-chip systems. To provide some context with in vivo development of the central nervous system (CNS), we also provide a brief overview of the neural stem cell niche, neural development and neural differentiation in vitro. We conclude with a discussion of future directions for this exciting and important field of biomaterials research

Mild Transcobalamin I (Haptocorrin) Deficiency and Low Serum Cobalamin Concentrations

Background: Low cobalamin concentrations are com-mon, but their causes are often unknown. Transcobal-amin I/haptocorrin (TC I/HC) deficiency, viewed as a rare cause, has not been examined systematically in patients with unexplained low serum cobalamin. Methods: Total TC I/HC was measured by RIA in three subgroups of 367, 160, and 38 patients with different categories of low cobalamin concentrations and three comparison subgroups of 112, 281, and 119 individuals with cobalamin concentrations within the reference in-terval. Additional studies, including family studies, were done in selected patients found to have low TC I/HC concentrations. Results: Low TC I/HC concentrations suggestive of mild TC I/HC deficiency occurred in 54 of 367 (15%) patient

COVID-19 Antibody Testing as a Precondition for Employment: Ethical and Legal Considerations

Employers and governments are interested in the use of serological (antibody) testing to allow people to return to work before there is a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2. We articulate the preconditions needed for the implementation of antibody testing, including the role of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration

Cobalamin deficiency resulting in a rare haematological disorder: a case report

INTRODUCTION: We present the case of a patient with a cobalamin deficiency resulting in pancytopaenia, emphasizing the importance to define, diagnose and treat cobalamin deficiency. CASE PRESENTATION: A 52-year-old man from the Democratic Republic of Congo presented to the emergency department with shortness of breath and a sore tongue. Physical examination was unremarkable. His haemoglobin was low and the peripheral blood smear revealed pancytopaenia with a thrombotic microangiopathy. The findings were low cobalamin and folate levels, and high homocysteine and methylmalonate levels. Pernicious anaemia with chronic atrophic gastritis was confirmed by gastric biopsy and positive antiparietal cell and anti-intrinsic factor antibodies. Cobalamin with added folate was given. Six months later, the patient was asymptomatic. CONCLUSION: Cobalamin deficiency should always be ruled out in a patient with pancytopaenia. Our case report highlights a life-threatening cobalamin deficiency completely reversible after treatment