South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde
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To describe the costs of establishing and operating a home-based care (HBC) project providing palliative care for people with AIDS (PWA), and to project the full costs to the health care system of extending this care model. ⋯ Providing palliative HBC to PWAs in their last year of life using the ICHC model costs R2 840 per patient per year. Even with this level of HBC input, patients still incurred hospital costs of R2 522 and primary care clinic costs of R1 154 per patient per year. HBC costs are increased in rural areas where a vehicle is required for staff transport. HBC shows considerable potential to deal cost-effectively with growing palliative care needs in the face of the AIDS epidemic, but we need to understand better the true extent to which HBC can substitute for hospitalisation.
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To determine the prevalence of disability in children under 10 years of age in the Manguzi subdistrict, in order to inform the development of an appropriate rehabilitation service. ⋯ The prevalence of disabilities among children aged under 10 years is high. This has major implications for health, rehabilitation, welfare and educational services in rural areas. These implications must be addressed in order to develop appropriate rehabilitation services for children in rural areas.