Launch of the District Health Barometer 2010/11

On 23 February 2012 Health Systems Trust (HST) launched the District Health Barometer (DHB) 2010/11. The DHB is a tool through which managers in the health sector can monitor and evaluate not only trends in health status and service delivery but also the underlying quality of routinely collected health information in South Africa. continue reading

SAMJ article on HIV/AIDS services

In the first issue of the South African Medical Journal (SAMJ) of 2012 the article titled 'Provision and need of HIV/AIDS services in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, 2010' was published of which I am the first author. It is based on the 2010 report that I have written for the Foundation for Professional [...] continue reading

Providing extra capacity for reviewing data and writing up

Health Systems Trust (HST) is a dynamic not-for-profit organisation supporting the transformation of the health system in South Africa. Subscribing to a primary health care approach, HST actively supports current and future development of a comprehensive health system, through strategies designed to promote equity and efficiency in health and health care delivery in southern Africa. continue reading

Baseline health assessment for an ESHIA project

As part of an Health Impact Assessment (HIA) project in Angola, a health baseline study needed to be conducted. Angola Resources Consultants (ARC) outsourced the desk-based research to Epi Result. This article discusses the steps that were taken in order to come to a final report on the baseline health status of the community in the region. continue reading

Writing the report of the study on the experiences of community services officers in South Africa

Developing an analysis plan, and analysing the data of the exit-survey of doctors and dentists that conducted their compulsory community service year in South Africa in 2009. Writing the report of the study (Executive summary, Introduction, Literature review on the experiences of community services officers in South Africa, Findings of the survey, Discussion and conclusion, Way forward). continue reading

How do doctors and dentists experience their community service?

The main objective of a study initiated by Africa Health Placements was to review the experiences of the 2009 cohort of Community Service doctors and dentists, the factors that are related to that experience and the relation with their plans for the future. Furthermore, the study aimed to make recommendations for improvement of CS in order to meet its objectives. continue reading