South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde
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Motor vehicle collisions and pedestrian injuries in areas where schools are located are public health problems in Durban. ⋯ Traffic calming has been shown to be effective in reducing the number of PVCs but needs to be supported by additional measures to further improve the safety of pedestrians.
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BACKGROUND; Road traffic injuries are a leading cause of death and may be related to social inequality. ⋯ The impact of road traffic injuries is significant, but can be decreased by using appropriate restraining devices. Seatbelt use in South Africa, although compulsory, is neither strictly adhered to nor enforced. Their use is proportionally lower in lower-income areas. Specific interventions are required to target these communities directly.
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Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is commonly applied to study the neural substrates of language in clinical research and for neurosurgical planning. fMRI language mapping is used to assess language lateralisation, or determine hemispheric dominance, and to localise regions of the brain involved in language. Routine fMRI has been introduced in the Epilepsy Unit at Mediclinic Constantiaberg to contribute to the current functional mapping procedures used in pre-surgical planning. ⋯ The fMRI results are meaningful at the group and individual level and can be recommended for language mapping in pre-surgical patients.
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Paediatric traumatic brain injury (PTBI) is a major public health problem. However, recent epidemiological data for PTBI in South Africa (SA) are lacking. ⋯ The identification of aetiological factors and the description of demographic profiles of children sustaining TBI constitutes a basis for preventative policy administration and intervention strategies in SA.
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The Department of Health in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has run a surgical outreach programme for over a decade.Objective. To quantify the impact of the outreach programme by analysing its effect on the operative capacity of a single rural health district. ⋯ The infrastructure is well established and the outreach programme is well run and reliable. The clinical outputs of the programme are significant. However, the impact of this programme on specific outcomes is less certain. This raises the question of the future strategic choices that need to be made in our attempts to improve access to surgical care.