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Startling figures on HIV/AIDS in health sector
Bruce Venter. 11 December 2003. Pretoria News. Republished courtesy of Independent Newspapers (Pty) Ltd.
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An estimated 15,7% of workers employed in the public and private health sectors in 2002 were infected with HIV/Aids. This startling finding is revealed in a national survey carried out by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), in conjunction with the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National School of Public Health (NSPH) at Medunsa.
Another disturbing finding of the study into the HIV/AIDS prevalence in South Africa's health sector was that more than 60% of all children admitted to a tertiary level academic hospital in Durban were HIV-positive. The majority of these children were younger than 12 months.
The HIV/AIDS prevalence among health workers and children is set to have a substantial impact on the national health care system's capacity to deal with the pandemic. The Report was published and handed to the Department of Health in mid-2003 but, to date, the findings of the survey have not officially been made public.
A source claims that the Department of Health requested that the Report be retracted due to the gravity of the HSRC's findings. The outcome of the HSRC study revealed that the impact of HIV/AIDS on health workers cannot be isolated from other human resource challenges currently confronting the health system.
These include the shortage of medical practitioners and professional nurses and the inequitable distribution of professional health skills across the country. The HSRC interviewed 2 000 professional and non-professional health workers treating patients at public and private health facilities, as well as 2 000 patients in all nine provinces.
Anonymous HIV testing was conducted on health workers employed at public and private health facilities and patients in the Free State, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and North West provinces. No indication is given as to why Gauteng was excluded from the research.Results have shown that an estimated 16,3% of all public sector health workers in the four provinces are HIV-positive.
In the four provinces surveyed, it was found that 28% of patients admitted to both public and private health care facilities were HIV-positive. Specimens obtained for the testing of HIV antibodies were examined at three different laboratories.
During the period 1997 to 2001, HIV/AIDS-related illnesses are believed to have caused 5,6% of deaths among South African health workers. The HSRC Report reflected that if deaths due to TB as associated with AIDS are included, an estimated 13% of health workers died from HIV/AIDS during that period. (Tuberculosis is an opportunistic infection to which HIV-positive patients can easily succumb).Figures have shown that the increase in patient admissions in rural hospitals is related to HIV/AIDS patients infected with TB.
Since priority health care is given to HIV-positive patients, this could mean that HIV-negative patients may be crowded out of the national health care system. The HSRC has recommended to the Department of Health that efforts to improve services for treating TB patients be stepped up. Pretoria News has been trying for last few days to get the Department's response without success. |
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