South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde
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HIV/AIDS remains one of the world's most significant public health and economic challenges, with approximately 36 million people currently living with the disease. Considerable progress has been made to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS in the past years through successful multiple HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment interventions. However, barriers such as lack of engagement, limited availability of early HIV-infection detection tools, high rates of HIV/sexually transmitted infections (STIs), barriers to access antiretroviral therapy, lack of innovative resource optimisation and distribution strategies, and poor prevention services for vulnerable populations still exist and substantially affect the attainment of the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets. ⋯ From a list of collected publications, researchers used inclusion and exclusion criteria to screen and select relevant papers for inclusion in this review. This study unpacks emerging opportunities that can be explored by applying machine learning techniques to further knowledge and understanding about HIV service design, prediction, implementation, and evaluation. Therefore, there is a need to explore innovative and more effective analytic strategies including machine learning approaches to understand and improve HIV service design, planning, implementation, and evaluation to strengthen HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and awareness strategies.
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The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the weakness of relying on in-person tuition in higher education. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have been a successful addition to higher education. In this study, educators had to replace a planned elective in the medical curriculum with an online option during the pandemic. The roles of the competency framework of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) (Leader and Manager, Health Advocate, Professional, Communicator, Collaborator, Scholar, and Healthcare Practitioner) were used to guide its development. This elective emphasised the non-clinical roles of medical practitioners and was offered in 2020 and 2021. ⋯ Students gravitated toward courses aligned with their role as professional doctors within the HPCSA competency framework. More studies are needed to understand how medical students develop the six non-clinical roles in the HPCSA framework and the effectiveness of MOOCs in a medical curriculum.
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Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV helps in closing the gaps for new HIV infections, thereby contributing to achieving the global targets of an AIDS-free generation. ⋯ PMTCT is important in establishing an HIV-free generation. The study revealed that women had a good understanding of MTCT; nevertheless, additional education is necessary, particularly regarding birthing procedures that minimise the risk of MTCT.
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Adverse pregnancy outcomes, including abortions, miscarriages and stillbirths, are common in developing countries such as Zimbabwe. ⋯ Trends showed an increase in the proportion of women experiencing adverse pregnancy outcomes in Zimbabwe from 2005 to 2015. Advanced maternal age, marriage, lack of religion and living in Harare, Mashonaland Central or Mashonaland West were associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. There is a need to reduce these outcomes through integration of social issues into maternal health programmes, as well as ensuring accessibility and availability of comprehensive reproductive health services that target high-risk groups such as women aged 35 - 49 years.
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Globally, prostate cancer (PCa) accounts for 6.6% of deaths, while in South Africa (SA), PCa accounts for 13% of deaths in males, with over 4 000 SA men diagnosed with PCa annually. This may be attributed to the inadequate availability of screening, early detection and possibly other socioeconomic and lifestyle factors. ⋯ This study shows significant associations between age and level of education with knowledge, perception and awareness of PCa. Educational campaigns targeting diverse age and education groups are recommended, along with smoking cessation programmes, improved PCa screening access, tailored messaging, healthcare collaborations, and cultural sensitivity to enhance awareness and early detection.