A self-assessment study of procedural skills of doctors in peri-urban district hospitals of Gauteng, South Africa.

Background: Several studies have been carried out on procedural skills of doctors in district hospitals in rural South Africa. However, there is insufficient information about skills of doctors in peri-urban district hospitals. This paper attempts to supplement this vital information.

Analysing post-apartheid gender and racial transformation in medical education in a South African province.

Introduction: In light of global concerns about insufficient numbers of doctors, midwives, and nurses, the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified the scale-up of the production of medical professionals who are competent and responsive to community needs as urgent and necessary. Coincident with this imperative, South African medical schools have also had to consider redressing apartheid-era inequities in access to medical education and changing the racial and gender profile of medical graduates to be representative of the population. In this article, we explore progress and challenges with regard to transformation, defined as intentional and planned changes aimed at addressing historical disadvantages, in the Gauteng Province of South Africa.

Health consequences of sexual violence against women.

Sexual violence can lead to a multitude of health consequences, including physical, reproductive and psychological. Some may be fatal, whereas others, such as unhealthy behaviours, may occur indirectly as a result of the violence. In total, these result in a significant health burden and should be considered by service providers, government authorities and non-governmental agencies.

Making systems work: the hard part of improving maternal health services in South Africa.

As part of a multi-country study, maternal health services were reviewed in one health district in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Poor record-keeping, inadequate supervision, poor levels of clinical knowledge and under-utilisation of midwife obstetric units were found. Interventions identified by local health service personnel to improve maternity care were developed, implemented and evaluated, included programme-specific (training in prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and neonatal resuscitation) and system interventions (improving interpersonal relations and system functioning, use of routine data for monitoring purposes, improving supervision skills).

Comparative costs of inpatient care for HIV-infected and uninfected children and adults in Soweto, South Africa.

Background: HIV/AIDS creates a massive burden of care for health systems. A better understanding of the impact of HIV infection on health care utilization and costs may enable better use of limited resources.

Methods: We compared public sector inpatient costs of HIV-infected versus uninfected adults and children at a large hospital in Soweto, South Africa.