Search

Objective: To evaluate the successes and shortcomings of the community service programme implemented by the Department of Health (DOH) in South Africa by evaluating community service dietitians' experiences and challenges during the 2009 community service year.Design: The study employed both quantitative and qualitative research designs. A national survey was conducted using a questionnaire to illicit information on community service dietitians' working environments and the challenges they experienced. Furthermore individual interviews were conducted with a purposively selected subsample of community service dietitians to further explore issues that arose in the survey.Setting: Data were collected from community service dietitians in the public health sector in South Africa.Subjects: Dietitians completing their community service year in 2009.Results: Of the 168 community service dietitians placed in 2009, 134 (80 %) participated in the survey, while five community service dietitians in each province (n 45) were interviewed. Overall the community service dietitians were positive about the community service year and reported that it improved their confidence, skills and competencies. However, they experienced challenges related to the orientation programme, supervision/mentoring, resources available, patient referrals and communication.Conclusions: Despite the overall success of the community service year there are still challenges which the DOH needs to address in order to provide the best nutrition service possible for its patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess anthropometric status in South African children and women in 2005 in order to document temporal trends in selected anthropometric parameters.Design: Heights and weights were measured in a cross-sectional study of children aged 1-9 years and women aged 16-35 years. The WHO reference values and BMI cut-off points were used to determine weight status.Setting: South Africa, representative sample based on census data.Subjects: Children (n 2157) and women (n 2403).Results: Stunting was the most common nutritional disorder affecting 21·7% of children in 1999 and 20·7% in 2005. The difference was not statistically significant. Underweight prevalence remained unchanged, affecting 8·1% of children, whereas wasting affected 5·8% of children nationally, a significant increase from 4·3% of children in 1999. Rural children were most severely affected. According to the international BMI cut-off points for overweight and obesity, 10% of children nationally were classified as overweight and 4% as obese. The national prevalence of overweight and obesity combined for women was 51·5%. The prevalence of overweight in children based on weight-for-height Z-score did not change significantly (8·0% to 6·8%, P = 0·138), but the combined overweight/obesity prevalence based on BMI cut-off points (17·1% to 14·0%, P = 0·02) decreased significantly from 1999 to 2005.Conclusions: The double burden of undernutrition in children and overweight among women is evident in South Africa and getting worse due to increased childhood wasting combined with a high prevalence of obesity among urban women, indicating a need for urgent intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Antenatal iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation remains an effective strategy in the prevention of maternal anemia and low birthweight and is universally recommended by WHO. However, uptake of IFA has varied globally due to challenges with acceptability, supply and distribution, counselling and knowledge, and access to health services. In Botswana, nearly one-third of pregnant women engaged in antenatal care do not receive IFA, despite it being standard of care. The objectives of this study were to assess knowledge of and barriers and facilitators to IFA supplementation before and during pregnancy., Methods: We conducted qualitative interviews with two key stakeholder groups at two different levels-the individual level (pregnant women) and the service delivery level (health care providers). Here, we present results from interviews with pregnant women at two representative antenatal clinic sites in Botswana in 2022., Results: Pregnant women were motivated to be healthy and were knowledgeable about the benefits of supplementation during pregnancy to mothers and their infants; however, women knew more about the benefits of iron than folic acid. Most women were in favor of receiving IFA supplementation prior to pregnancy and receiving fortified foods. Several key barriers were identified: lack of supplement availability in the clinics, poverty, side effects, number of tablets, and adherence. Approaches to overcome these barriers included improving supplement availability, improving health education, increasing supply of nutritious and fortified foods, backyard gardens, and increasing family and monetary support., Conclusions: Our study identified a need to 1) increase the availability of supplementation at antenatal clinics and 2) improve education regarding supplementation to include information about the benefits of folic acid and other micronutrients. Implementation research is needed to ascertain whether increasing supply and improving education could increase utilization of supplementation during pregnancy, with the ultimate goal of improving maternal and infant outcomes., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and by the Human Research Development Council (HRDC) in Botswana. All personnel involved in the conduct of this study had completed Human Subjects Protection Training. The study coordinator made sure that, throughout the study, all relevant ethical principles for conducting interviews with the relevant stakeholders were observed. Key ethical principles observed by the research team included being sensitive to beliefs, manners, and customs of participants, acting with integrity and honesty with participants, ensuring a respectful communication and contact with participants, protecting the anonymity and confidentiality of individual information, and obtaining informed consent from everyone interviewed. Participants were given the liberty to not answer questions they did not feel comfortable answering and could withdraw their participation at any point during the interview. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: The BMJ has judged that there are no disqualifying financial ties to commercial companies. The authors declare no relevant interests.

Background: South Africa (SA) has embarked on a process to implement universal health coverage (UHC) funded by National Health Insurance (NHI). The 2019 NHI Bill proposes creation of a health technology assessment (HTA) body to inform decisions about which interventions NHI funds will cover under UHC. In practice, HTA often relies mainly on economic evaluations of cost-effectiveness and budget impact, with less attention to the systematic, specific consideration of important social, organisational and ethical impacts of the health technology in question. In this context, the South African Values and Ethics for Universal Health Coverage (SAVE-UHC) research project recognised an opportunity to help shape the health priority-setting process by providing a way to take account of multiple, ethically relevant considerations that reflect SA values. The SAVE-UHC Research Team developed and tested an SA-specific Ethics Framework for HTA assessment and analysis., Objectives: To develop and test an Ethics Framework for use in the SA context for health priority-setting., Methods: The Framework was developed iteratively by the authors and a multidisciplinary panel (18 participants) over a period of 18 months, using the principles outlined in the 2015 NHI White Paper as a starting point. The provisional Ethics Framework was then tested with multi-stakeholder simulated appraisal committees (SACs) in three provinces. The membership of each SAC roughly reflected the composition of a potential SA HTA committee. The deliberations and dedicated focus group discussions after each SAC meeting were recorded, analysed and used to refine the Framework, which was presented to the Working Group for review, comment and final approval., Results: This article describes the 12 domains of the Framework. The first four (Burden of the Health Condition, Expected Health Benefits and Harms, Cost-Effectiveness Analysis, and Budget Impact) are commonly used in HTA assessments, and a further eight cover the other ethical domains. These are Equity, Respect and Dignity, Impacts on Personal Financial Situation, Forming and Maintaining Important Personal Relationships, Ease of Suffering, Impact on Safety and Security, Solidarity and Social Cohesion, and Systems Factors and Constraints. In each domain are questions and prompts to enable use of the Framework by both analysts and assessors. Issues that arose, such as weighting of the domains and the availability of SA evidence, were discussed by the SACs., Conclusions: The Ethics Framework is intended for use in priority-setting within an HTA process. The Framework was well accepted by a diverse group of stakeholders. The final version will be a useful tool not only for HTA and other priority-setting processes in SA, but also for future efforts to create HTA methods in SA and elsewhere.

The aim of this study was to determine whether dietitians in South Africa are competent to meet the requirements of working in a health care setting during a compulsory one-year community service (CS) program immediately after receiving their degree. A national survey was conducted using questionnaires to illicit information from dietitians on their training and competencies. In 2009, data were collected from both community service dietitians (CSDs) participating in community service programs in primary, secondary and tertiary health care centers in all provinces of South Africa, as well as from their provincial managers (nutrition coordinators). Sixteen (100% response) nutrition coordinators and 134 (80% response) dietitians participated in the quantitative survey. The majority of the CSDs reported that, overall, their academic training had prepared them for most aspects of nutrition service delivery. However, some recommended that academic programs include more training on community-based nutrition programs and in delivering optimal services to under-resourced communities as they believed that their competencies in these two areas were weakest. Furthermore, many CSDs were required to establish dietetics departments where none had previously existed; consequently, their capacity in management and administration needed improvement. In conclusion, academic training institutions should align their programs to the transformation of the health sector in South Africa by ensuring that dietitians are empowered to provide optimal public health nutrition services in under-resourced communities.