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AIDS impact special issue 2023: two-way associations between relationship quality and uptake of couples health screening including HIV testing and counselling together: quantitative analysis of a couples cohort in rural South Africa
No full textIn the context of a couples cohort established to evaluate an optimised couples-focused behavioural intervention in rural South Africa, we examined: (1) Is couples' relationship quality (RQ) associated with couples HIV testing and counselling (CHTC) uptake? (2) Does CHTC uptake or the intervention components uptake improve subsequent RQ? Enrolled couples, (n = 218), previously naive to couples HIV testing, were invited to two group sessions and offered four couples counselling sessions (CS1-CS4), as part of the intervention and administered a questionnaire individually at baseline, four weeks, and four months, which included item-scales to measure RQ: satisfaction, intimacy, dyadic trust, conflict, and mutual constructive communication. Logistic models indicated that no baseline RQ measures were
significantly associated with CHTC uptake. Linear regression models showed that CHTC uptake before four weeks assessment significantly improved couples' satisfaction and trust at four weeks, and intimacy at four months. Attending at least one CS was associated with increased satisfaction, intimacy, and decreased conflict within couples at four weeks; the improvement in intimacy was sustained at four months. Consistent with the theoretical interdependence model, our findings suggest that CHTC and CS seemed to strengthen aspects of relationship quality, possibly leading to further collaboration in managing lifestyle changes and treatment adherence.
Creating a gender-transformative agenda to address contextualised tuberculosis risk and care access for men
No full textPaper presented at The Union World Conference on Lung Health, Paris, France, 15-18 Novembe
A poetic inquiry: the role of the social sciences and humanities in revitalising AIDS
Get PDFFor the past four decades, biomedical science has transformed clinical outcomes for HIV and AIDS. However, the social, economic and gendered determinants of HIV remain largely intact. The social science and humanities offer concepts and methods for articulating why these remain intractable. I used poetic inquiry - an arts-based, qualitative approach - as I reviewed literature on the "end of AIDS, and post-AIDS". As I did so, I considered what contribution the social sciences and humanities could make in moving us closer to these ideals. Several themes and found poems emerged in this reading: (1) how language oversimplifies complex social realities; (2) the voices of people living with HIV and AIDS must be included; (3) HIV and AIDS intersects with social inequalities; (4) social and structural issues are no barrier to HIV prevention and (5) the need for radical interdisciplinarity. The paper concludes that the end of AIDS requires responses that are integrated, holistic and that radically challenge our silo'd disciplinary boundaries and frames. The social sciences and humanities are key to this charge.
Exploring international migrant health in South Africa using the 2017 National HIV Prevalence Survey
No full textThe 2030 Sustainable Development Goals recognised the need for disaggregated migration data to leave no one behind. This paper explores international migrants' health in South Africa using the 2017 South African National HIV Prevalence, Incidence, Behaviour, and Communication Survey. Respondents indicated their country of birth and, and their international migrant status (documented migrant/undocumented migrant/asylum seeker/refugee/other).
Quality of life and wellbeing: a good life?
No full textThe concepts 'quality of life' and 'wellbeing' direct us to deeply human and social questions about whether the idea (and project) of wellbeing and the qualities it opens up lead us to a 'good life'. Issues pertinent to quality of life and wellbeing are not purely quantitative (in other words, measurable against numerical targets) but rather fundamentally qualitative and inherently experiential. If we ask 'what is a good life?' we are interested in the dimensions of life, not as a purely philosophical question (itself important), but as a fundamentally social one that expects us to (re)consider the way in which we think about the state of the nation and the types of interventions that are needed to address poverty and inequality.
Covid-19 and Sunday worship in the wake of the pandemic at Our Lady of Loreto, South Africa
No full textChristians, and those of the Roman Catholic Church, have made significant adjustments to their participation in Sunday liturgy in the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This is especially the case for Catholic Christians at the 'Our Lady of Loreto' (OLL) Church in Kempton Park in South Africa. Sunday Church services that used to be compulsory for most Catholic families and community members, are now attended by few and in some cases none from staunch Catholic families and communities. However, this is not a new phenomenon in the Catholic Church. It signals the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has altered and continues to affect Christian families and their commitment to the Sunday liturgy. Drawing from qualitative interviews conducted with eight staunch Catholic community leaders of OLL Church in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, this paper explores the motivations for their continuous participation and/or non-participation in the Sunday liturgy in the wake of the pandemic. The findings reveal that certain behavioural patterns or activities associated with the COVID-19 pandemic motivate Catholic Christians and families to continue to participate and/or not participate in the Sunday liturgy.
Perceptions of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention among men living with HIV in the context of reproductive goals in South Africa: a qualitative study
Get PDFPre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Treatment as Prevention (TasP) are effective strategies to prevent HIV transmission within serodifferent couples. However, limited usage of PrEP, knowledge and interest has been amongst the barriers for men, alongside testing and treatment adherence. We explored the perceptions of PreP for HIV prevention with Men living with HIV (MWH) who have reproductive goals, to understand awareness and experiences related to PrEP use in the context of HIV prevention with their partners. We undertook a qualitative study with 25 MWH aged 18 to 65 between April and September 2021 in South Africa. Potential participants were screened for eligibility and scheduled to participate in telephonic interviews. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, translated and thematically analysed. Themes were organized into opportunities and barriers that men with HIV articulate as important for using PrEP to meet individual, couple, and community reproductive goals. At the individual level, some men were willing to discuss PrEP with their partners to protect their partners and babies from acquiring HIV. Lack of knowledge about PrEP among men was a potential barrier to promoting PrEP among their female partners. At the couple level, PrEP use was seen as a way to strengthen relationships between partners, signifying care, trust, and protection and was seen as a tool to help serodifferent couples meet their reproductive goals safely. At the community level, PrEP was viewed as a tool to promote HIV testing and prevention efforts, especially among men, but participants emphasized the need for more education and awareness. Despite PrEP implementation in South Africa, awareness of PrEP among men with HIV in rural areas remains low. Engaging MWH to support their partners in accessing PrEP could be an innovative strategy to promote HIV prevention. Additionally, providing men with comprehensive reproductive health information can empower them to make more informed decisions, adopt safer sexual practices, and challenge societal norms and stigmas around HIV.
Reorienting technology transfer in South African universities and science councils towards public value outcomes
No full textThe contributors argue that the philosophical outlook that informs innovation policy, the attitude of mind in both the public and private sectors, and the content and timeframes attached to national development planning, among other factors, are as important as technical issues related to scientific expertise, training pipelines and resource allocation. In other words, the authors make a case for a system of innovation that functions as a holistic domain, straddling a variety of disciplines and spatial issues.
Classification of obesity among South African female adolescents: comparative analysis of logistic regression and random forest algorithms
No full textPreviously considered to affect well-developed and high-income countries, obesity is a public health threat that is increasing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The global adult obesity rate has almost tripled in the past four decades. Currently, 39% of adults globally are overweight and 13% obese. Overweight among children and adolescents aged 5-19 years increased from 4% in 1975 to over 18% in 2016 [1]. Like other middle-income countries, South Africa is currently facing a triple burden of malnutrition, highlighted by a co-existence of overweight and underweight and micronutrient deficiencies [2]. This has led to the acceleration of obesity rates in children and adolescents in South Africa, as identified in national surveys.
Innovation in South African businesses, 2019-2021: activities, practices and capabilities
Get PDFThe results presented in this report convey a snapshot of innovation in the South African formal business sector in the three-year period, 2019-2021, adding to the existing South African innovation data set, and complimenting other national surveys, including the annual South African R&D Survey. Additional documents accompany this report, which delve deeper into the data to provide further insight into specific topics covered by the survey, as well as the survey methodology. These include:
1. An executive summary including the headline results of the survey
2. A detailed methodology note covering sampling and response, imputations, and projection of results.
3. A detailed weighting methodology note.
4. Appendix tables providing the source data for the tables and figures in this report.
5. Aggregated data tables providing a breakdown of all variables in the survey, by sector and size class.
6. Eight sectoral briefs with specific statistics for technological capabilities, barriers to innovation and outcomes of innovation for each subsector. Respondents can use these to compare themselves to other businesses in their sectors.
7. Fact sheet 1 on innovation funding in South African innovation-active firms. This covers cost-related obstacles to innovation activities, sources of funding, awareness of public funding, types of public support applied for or obtained and reasons for not applying for public funding.
8. Fact sheet 2 on innovation rates over time from 2002-2004 to the latest period, 2019-2021
9. A policy brief on the innovation collaboration activity of innovation-active South African firms. The policy brief classifies groups of innovation-active firms in terms of how they collaborate and looks at their reported barriers to innovation collaboration, types of collaboration partners, and geographic location of collaboration partners.