ORCID Profile
0000-0003-2560-8234
Current Organisations
University of KwaZulu-Natal
,
University of Cambridge
,
University of the Witwatersrand
,
Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 15-05-2020
DOI: 10.1186/S12992-020-00574-3
Abstract: Medical staff caring for COVID-19 patients face mental stress, physical exhaustion, separation from families, stigma, and the pain of losing patients and colleagues. Many of them have acquired SARS-CoV-2 and some have died. In Africa, where the pandemic is escalating, there are major gaps in response capacity, especially in human resources and protective equipment. We examine these challenges and propose interventions to protect healthcare workers on the continent, drawing on articles identified on Medline (Pubmed) in a search on 24 March 2020. Global jostling means that supplies of personal protective equipment are limited in Africa. Even low-cost interventions such as facemasks for patients with a cough and water supplies for handwashing may be challenging, as is ‘physical distancing’ in overcrowded primary health care clinics. Without adequate protection, COVID-19 mortality may be high among healthcare workers and their family in Africa given limited critical care beds and difficulties in transporting ill healthcare workers from rural to urban care centres. Much can be done to protect healthcare workers, however. The continent has learnt invaluable lessons from Ebola and HIV control. HIV counselors and community healthcare workers are key resources, and could promote social distancing and related interventions, dispel myths, support healthcare workers, perform symptom screening and trace contacts. Staff motivation and retention may be enhanced through carefully managed risk ‘allowances’ or compensation. International support with personnel and protective equipment, especially from China, could turn the pandemic’s trajectory in Africa around. Telemedicine holds promise as it rationalises human resources and reduces patient contact and thus infection risks. Importantly, healthcare workers, using their authoritative voice, can promote effective COVID-19 policies and prioritization of their safety. Prioritizing healthcare workers for SARS-CoV-2 testing, hospital beds and targeted research, as well as ensuring that public figures and the population acknowledge the commitment of healthcare workers may help to maintain morale. Clearly there are multiple ways that international support and national commitment could help safeguard healthcare workers in Africa, essential for limiting the pandemic’s potentially devastating heath, socio-economic and security impacts on the continent.
Publisher: South African Medical Association NPC
Date: 12-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2023
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-2017
Publisher: Mary Ann Liebert Inc
Date: 07-2011
Abstract: Women worldwide use various vaginal practices to clean or modify their vulva and vagina. Additional population-level information is needed on prevalence and motivations for these practices, characteristics of users, and their adverse effects. This was a household survey using multistage cluster s ling in Tete, Mozambique KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Yogyakarta, Indonesia and Chonburi, Thailand. In 2006-2007, vaginal practices and their motivations were examined using structured interviews with women 18-60 years of age (n=3610). Prevalence, frequency, and motivations varied markedly. Two thirds of women in Yogyakarta and Chonburi reported one or more practices. In Yogyakarta, nearly half ingest substances with vaginal effects, and in Chonburi, external washing and application predominate. In Tete, half reported three or four current practices, and a quarter reported five or more practices. Labial elongation was near universal, and 92% of those surveyed cleanse internally. Two third's in KwaZulu-Natal practiced internal cleansing. Insertion of traditional solid products was rare in Chonburi and Yogyakarta, but one tenth of women in KwaZulu-Natal and nearly two thirds of women in Tete do so. Multivariate analysis of the most common practice in each site showed these were more common among less educated women in Africa and young urban women in Asia. Explicit sexual motivations were frequent in KwaZulu-Natal and Tete, intended for pleasure and maintaining partner commitment. Practices in Chonburi and Yogyakarta were largely motivated by femininity and health. Genital irritation was common at African sites. Vaginal practices are not as rare, exotic, or benign as sometimes assumed. Limited evidence of their biomedical consequences remains a concern further investigation of their safety and sexual health implications is warranted.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-06-2014
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2014
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-02-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2013
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2010
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-03-2021
DOI: 10.1111/AOGS.14124
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 26-11-2018
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Fiona Scorgie.