7 research outputs found
Moving Mountains, the Race to Treat Global AIDS
No full textBy Anne-Christine D'Adesky
Moving Mountains, the Race to Treat Global AIDS provides a lucid account of global efforts to scale up treatment for HIV/AIDS. As shown in the book, these efforts confront a number of critical challenges at a political, social, cultural and economic level.The book attempts to provide accounts of these challenges by looking at progress made in nine countries – Brazil, India, Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, Morocco, Uganda, South Africa and Russia.These accounts are formulated through interviews with people living with HIV/AIDS, HIV/AIDS activists and health officials. The book is divided into four parts.The first part has three chapters. Chapter 1 outlines what the book is about. Chapter 2 provides a chronology of recent events in the fights against HIV/AIDS. In Chapter 3 Brazil's success in its AIDS treatment programme and in curbing the rate of new HIV infections is presented as a good model for other developing countries with high HIV prevalence to follow. Brazil has implemented a successful and sustainable treatment programme by initially importing generic medicines from India, and currently through its state-run generic manufacturing programme.
In the second part the author takes the reader around the world by describing the fight against HIV/AIDS in nine countries. Chapter 4 describes India's role in the production of generic medicines. Chapter 5 provides a description of Cuba's unique yet controversial fight against HIV/AIDS.According to the author, the country's policy of keeping HIV-positive people quarantined in sanitoriums raises ethical questions. Chapters 6 and 7 highlight the rural and urban differences when it comes to access to treatment or testing in Mexico and Haiti.The author points out that rural communities tend to fare worse with regards to access to health care. Chapter 8 looks at Uganda's efforts at preventing mother-to-child transmission through community mobilisation.The book also draws attention to Uganda's orphan crisis – one in every ten people in the country is reported to be an orphan of AIDS.
Chapter 9 describes how in Morocco HIV/AIDS is still perceived to be a disease of homosexuals and drug users but, as the author notes, heterosexual transmission is very high. In the chapter on Morocco the author highlights the concern expressed among HIV/AIDS activists that the numbers of people living and dying from HIV/AIDS may be higher than what is reported. Chapter 10 looks at the role that the mining industry in Carltonville, South Africa, is playing in providing testing and treatment to its employees. Carltonville is presented as an example of the business sector joining the fight on HIV/AIDS. Chapter 11 deals with Russia's post-perestroika HIV/AIDS pandemic.The author points out that the high number of injecting drug users in the country fuels this pandemic. In Chapter 13 the author looks at the opportunity that AIDS presents for improving infrastructure and introducing new models of care that could impact on other killer diseases. After having gone through some of the challenges and obstacles in the quest to increase access to AIDS treatment globally, the author takes the reader through the progress made thus far, as well as some of the challenges that still need to be overcome (Chapter Fourteen).
Throughout the book the author uses quotes to enhance the perceptions and experiences of the interviewees.The author has done well in each instance not to examine the treatment issue in isolation from the social, cultural, political and even economic issues pertaining to each country.The author demonstrates convincingly that the issue of access to drugs is one that is embedded in the market-driven global economic system. It is a system that she describes as one that emphasises profit gain over equity or corporate social responsibility. She argues that the debate over patents and generic medicines for HIV/AIDS could potentially spill over to other medicines.
The book provides accounts of global prevention, care and support, as well as treatment efforts in selected countries. It is a good introduction to the abovementioned content areas, with specific focus on the area of treatment.The author succeeds in educating the reader about antiretroviral drugs.The appendices also provide useful information on a number of subjects, such as HIV-related metabolic side-effects, studies on factors affecting adherence, and reports on the vulnerability of women to infection.Apart from a few, sometimes irritating, instances in the book where conjunctions were missing, it was well written.The book could be of benefit to a variety of readers, including researchers in the social aspects of HIV/AIDS treatment, public health researchers, scholars in public health and HIV/AIDS activists
Theorising the Islamic State: A Critical Global South Decolonial Perspective
No full textMini Dissertation (MSS)--University of Pretoria, 2017.This study critically engages with the current security debate on the conceptual understanding of the Islamic State (IS). The study critically evaluates the dominant Western view within the debate that conceptualises IS as an ‘Islamic’ terrorist organisation and a product of the ‘backwardness’ of Islam. By conducting a critical review of the literature on IS, the author argues that such a conceptualisation of IS is rooted in a racist, orientalist and Islamophobic Western epistemological narrative which seeks to create a ‘natural’ link between terrorism and Islam. Through a conceptual discussion on terrorism and a critical assessment of the Eurocentric nature of security studies theories, both traditional and critical, the study shows how hegemonic Western epistemologies are able to conveniently ignore the European roots of terrorism in the foundation of Western modernity. The result of this is that hegemonic Western epistemologies are able to appropriate the concept of security as an exclusive domain of Western states and their societies. This whilst carving out the non-European world, particularly Islamic societies, as the exclusive sources of potential terrorist threats. The study therefore advances the decolonial theoretical concept of global coloniality as a means of reframing the debate and shifting the point of enunciation from dominant Western views of IS to a more critical Global South decolonial perspective. As such, the study places emphasis on the European origins of terrorism as a constitutive element of the foundation of Western modernity, whilst addressing the cognitive confinement of security studies theories. In this light the study concludes by asserting that the Islamic State is a creation of the constitutive violent logic of Western modernity/coloniality, which has terrorism as its foundational core.National Research Foundation (NRF)Political SciencesMSSUnrestricte
British Party Politics and Foreign Policy: The Case of Zimbabwe
No full textThe basic tenets of International Relations have become subject to uncertainty and debate. The academic consensus that dominated the field has cracked with further questions arising on the conventional assumptions’ claim to universality. Post-modernist thinkers, who have challenged its foundation on structured thinking, affirm that normalising discourses within traditional foreign policy position restricts academic advancement in the area. They challenge the notion that geopolitics and national politics are mutually exclusive. They argue for an interpretive approach of IR, which could show that some principles and understanding that shape domestic policymaking may affect foreign policy positions. Their interpretation of politics, including IR, is that, its fundamentals require an interpretive review of actions and their consequences. These reveal the socio-political and environmental influences that help shape policy, which traditional approaches to foreign relations fail to reveal. In over a century, the political situation in Rhodesia and Zimbabwe tilted towards the ideological position of the party in Britain. A debate about the nature of government, human rights, economics and Britain’s role in these, has characterised the foreign policy debate between the two states. The definition of these concepts has depended on the party running Downing Street. The emphasis on similar issues in the 1970s and 1980s differed to that of the late 1990s, indicating divergent interpretations of national interests, which most scholars regard as causal of the apolitical nature of IR. The high levels of public interest Rhodesian/Zimbabwean interests pushed foreign policy into the ideological field of domestic politics. This challenges the IR premises established by convention IR approaches. Thus, using the case study it is clear that dominated views of foreign relations are unable to verify the whole picture of what transpires in a political field
Policy options on land distribution in South Africa with special reference to the rural community of Cradock in the Eastern Cape : a theological ethical perspective.
No full textThesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998.This study seeks to investigate the origin of land injustices in South Africa. The root cause of land injustices, as will be shown in the introduction, is located in human shortcomings of greed, which theologically is termed sin. All the contributory systems mentioned such as Colonisation and Apartheid are a direct result of sin. No human being is immune from sin, whatever name one may use to describe that shortcoming. The approach adopted throughout the dissertation is an inductive one which first presents the reality as it is and secondly make an analysis of the situation. In this regard chapter two focuses on the dire needs of land by Africans both in Cradock and the country as a whole. Chapter three examines the concept of ubulungisa - justice as an appropriate method for Christians (in South Africa) to address the issue of land injustice. Chapter four acknowledges that the problem of land injustice is global in scope. It is suggested that the experiences of other countries that have gone through similar experiences have much to offer South Africa: It is also emphasised that the lessons learnt must be adapted to our situation. Chapter five examines the land policies of three of the dominant South African political parties that are involved in the present Government. These are; the African National Congress, the National Party and the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania. At the same time, a brief critique of their land policies is conducted. This chapter closes by suggesting that an approach that allows all citizens of the country to make a contribution be adopted. Chapter six presents a challenge to the Church to accept its role and responsibility. The author submits that the Church has a pastoral and prophetic role to play. The church is challenged to show its commitment to ministry on land injustices by setting an example in the use of its own land, whilst at the same time it challenges the State. This is so because the church has a task to be the conscience of the nation by 'being the voice of the voiceless.' Chapter seven, summarises the findings of the dissertation and concludes by suggesting six fundamental ethical principles regarding justice in the land that are worth considering
Acceptability and feasibility of a group intervention for long COVID in Johannesburg, South Africa: a mixed-method study
No full textBackground
COVID-19 affected 777 million people globally, with 7.1 million deaths. In Africa, 9.6 million cases and 176,000 deaths were reported. Long COVID, a significant consequence of the COVID-19, presented by chronic symptoms, affects the physical and mental health, thereby impacting the quality of life. While high-income countries implemented rehabilitation programs for managing long COVID symptoms, low- and middle-income countries faced healthcare disparities. In South Africa, limited multidisciplinary interventions were evident. This study aimed to assess the acceptability and feasibility of an 8-week rehabilitation and self-management program for long COVID using mixed-methods approach in Johannesburg.
Methods
Patients and hospital staff who suffered from at least one symptom of long COVID for a period of two months and who consented to participate in the intervention were recruited from Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital. The recruitment was from July to October 2023. Questionnaires were administered and interviews with selected participants were conducted to assess the acceptability and feasibility of the intervention. A descriptive analysis was carried out for the quantitative data, and a deductive thematic analysis was used for the interviews.
Results
The participants had positive perceptions towards the design of the intervention, delivery, materials used and support by research staff and external consultants such as dietitians, physiotherapists, and psychologists. The participants stated that the intervention had improved their knowledge of long COVID and increased their self-confidence. Major barriers related to the intervention perceived by the participants were infrastructure, time and language. Recommendations from the participants included expanding the intervention at the community level and extending the duration of the intervention beyond 8-weeks.
Conclusion
This pilot intervention, that aimed to manage the symptoms of long COVID, was well accepted by the participants and achieved its intended outcome. Similar interventions are required at the clinical as well as community levels
Class relations and the policies of the Communist Party of South Africa, 1921-1950
No full textThe Communist Party(CP) was formed in 1921, on the foundation
created by the International Socialist League (ISL). An
investigation of the theory and practice of the CP reveals the
combination of a socialist commitment with an abstract
theoretical perspective. The Party was obstructed, through its
own idealised understanding of class relations, from pursuing its
declared goals. This study investigates the rhythms of struggle
and the dynamic development of the workers' movement. It examines
the growing social weight and developing structural strength of
black workers and the organisation and action which these
generated. CP policies are examined in the light of these
developments.
Oppression which spans different classes created the underlying
basis for a class alliance between the oppressed black petty
bourgeoisie and exploited and oppressed black workers. The CP
tended to conflate a co-incidence of different processes of
radicalisation and different class interests. The Party broke
from the white labour tradition out of which it had emerged; it
pursued a policy of popular frontism for much of its history.
This policy, and the conflation of different processes and class
interests promoted an uncertainty within the Party as to its
role. On this basis, the Party did not always identify underlying
processes, and hence its uncertainty as to how to relate to the
dynamic processes of radicalisation, organisation and action, and
the ebbs and flows of the class struggle was promoted. In 1950,
the Party responded to the threat of state banning, and, at a
time when working class combativity was developing, it disbanded.
In the period under study, the goal of working class leadership
in an organised class alliance was not achieved
Peacemaking in Africa : - a critical analysis of the relationship between the African Union and African sub-regional organizations in recent peacemaking initiatives
No full textThis thesis considers the question of how, in practice, a regional organization comes to take the leading role in managing a peacemaking intervention. More specifically, it considers which criteria, if any, are used in the choice of a lead actor in peacemaking efforts, and how the principles of 'subsidiarity, complementarity and comparative advantage,' as laid out in the Memorandum of Understanding between the AU and the subregional organizations, are being applied in this decision making. The recent example cases of Zimbabwe, Kenya and Cote d'Ivoire are specifically analyzed to show the reality of the working relationship in the present
