South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde
-
It is important for centres participating in transplantation in South Africa (SA) to audit their outcomes. Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre (WDGMC), Johannesburg, SA, opened a transplant unit in 2004. The first 10 years of kidney and pancreas transplantation were reviewed to determine outcomes in respect of recipient and graft survival. ⋯ Outcomes of the first 10 years of kidney and pancreas transplantation at WDGMC compare favourably with local and international survival data.
-
Anaemia is a major global health problem affecting an estimated 42% of pregnant women worldwide. There is a paucity of South African (SA) data on anaemia in pregnancy, despite the fact that parasitic infections are endemic and the nutritional status of sections of the population is poor. ⋯ The prevalence of anaemia was 42.7%. In the majority (81.4%) the anaemia was mild and normocytic and normochromic (68.9%). Anaemia is a common problem among antenatal attendees in an SA urban population.
-
Selection of medical students at South African (SA) medical schools must promote equitable and fair access to students from all population groups, while ensuring optimal student throughput and success, and training future healthcare practitioners who will fulfil the needs of the local society. In keeping with international practices, a variety of academic and non-academic measures are used to select applicants for medical training programmes in SA medical schools. ⋯ Selection policies for undergraduate medical programmes aimed at redress should be continued and further refined, along with the provision of support to ensure student success.
-
Experiences of healthcare workers responding to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa vary with the types of facility. Patients suspected of having Ebola virus disease (EVD) must be isolated from each other as well as from the wider community until testing is complete; in Sierra Leone such facilities were called Ebola holding units (EHUs). Once EVD was confirmed, patients were moved to Ebola treatment units (ETUs), where they could be cohorted together safely and treatment efforts focused on EVD itself. While a number of purpose-built units combined an EHU with an ETU, my personal experience was of working in a number of stand-alone EHUs in Freetown, Sierra Leone.