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The health worker shortage in Africa : are enough physicians and nurses being trained?

KINFU, Yohannes
et al
February 2009

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"The health worker shortage in sub-Saharan Africa derives from many causes, yet the dynamics of entry into and exit from the health workforce in many of these countries remain poorly understood. This limits the capacity of national governments and their international development partners to design and implement appropriate intervention programmes. This paper provides some of this information through the first systematic estimates of health worker inflow and outflow in selected sub-Saharan African countries"

Helping a forgotten minority : disability and HIV/AIDS in Zambia

DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (DFID)
June 2007

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This article and case study demonstrate work being done in Zambia to ensure that the needs of people with disabilities are met by HIV and AIDS services, so that they have full access to the treatment, care and support available. Provisions include sign language training for HIV and AIDS counsellors, making mobility aids and hearing aids available to those who need them, as well as improving food security and encouraging a sustainable livelihoods approach. This would be of interest to anyone looking at mainstreaming disability in the provision of HIV and AIDS services

Children with hydrocephalus and spina bifida in East Africa : can family and community resources improve the odds?

MILES, M
2002

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Hydrocephalus and spina bifida are life threatening conditions that often result in severe dsabilities. Risks are much reduced by immediate surgery and careful managment, but neither has been available for most of the sub-Saharan African population. This paper traces the growth of solutions and some socio-cultural resources that historically have supported family and community care for children with severe disabilities, mainly in Tanzania, and nearby countries. Some community-based rehabilitation (CBR) work with children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus is described, and challenges to the CBR approach are noted from the increased survival of people with disabilities requiring complex care. More appropriate information, recognition of indigenous knowledge, enlistment of community resources and financial assistance are needed to enhance the lives of East Africans with hydrocephalus, spina bifida and other severely disabling conditions

HIV stress in primary school teachers in Zambia

BAGGALEY, Rachel
et al
1999

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A study was made of stress factors experienced by primary school teachers in Zambia after they had attended a course on stress management and counselling skills. Their pupils were significantly affected by poverty, death and illness of parents, fellow-pupils and teachers, teenage sex and pregnancy, violence in the home and, among girls, low self-esteem. The HIV epidemic had a major bearing on these factors, and there were wide-ranging effects on the teachers' own lives. Despite the training they had been given, many teachers felt that they could not adequately counsel their pupils on these matters. The teachers were in need of continuing support and training to enable them to cope with this aspect of their work

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