ORL-HNS training in South Africa

An out line of the scheme of training specialists in Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (ORL-HNS) in South Africa is given and the difference with Indian training discussed     

手术联合中药治疗激素性股骨头缺血性坏死的实验研究

目的 :初步探讨激素性股骨头缺血性坏死的发病机制 ,观察手术 +中药治疗本病的疗效。方法 :通过对新西兰大白兔联合应用马血清 +甲基强的松龙造模及手术处理 ,对正常组、模型组、手术组、手术 +中药组实验兔的血脂、血液流变学、血生化及股骨头标本切片观察 ,分析比较。结果 :手术 +中药治疗本病的疗效优于单纯保髋手术。结论 :手术 +活血化瘀补肾壮骨方法是股骨头缺血性坏死治疗的合理方法     

Transfer of occupational health problems from a developed to a developing country: Lessons from the Japan–South Korea experience

Many corporations move their manufacturing facilities or technologies from developed to developing countries. Stringent regulations have made it costly for industries to operate in developed, industrialized countries. In addition, labor costs are high in these countries, and there is increasing awareness among the general public of the health risks associated with industry. The relocation of hazardous industries to developing countries is driven by economic considerations: high unemployment, a cheaper labor force, lack of regulation, and poor enforcement of any existing regulations make certain countries attractive to business. The transfer of certain industries from Japan to Korea has also brought both documented occupational diseases and a new occupational disease caused by chemicals without established toxicities. Typical examples of documented occupational diseases are carbon disulfide poisoning in the rayon manufacturing industry, bladder cancer in the benzidine industry, and mesothelioma in the asbestos industry. A new occupational disease due to a chemical without established toxicities is 2‐bromopropane poisoning. These examples suggest that counter‐measures are needed to prevent the transfer of occupational health problems from a developed to a developing country. Corporate social responsibility should be emphasized, close inter‐governmental collaboration is necessary and cooperation among non‐governmental organizations is helpful. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:625–632, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

“AIDS is rape!” gender and sexuality in children's responses to HIV and AIDS

This paper examines young African school children's understanding of HIV and AIDS. Based on focus group interviews with children aged 7–8 in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, it explores the ways in which gender and sexuality feature in their responses to the disease. Data were collected between 2003 and 2004 through 26 focus groups involving 55 boys and 64 girls. The paper argues that younger children are active agents in giving meaning to the disease. Their agency is negotiated within complex social processes involving sexual violence, highly unequal gender/age inequalities, but also sexual expression. Those expressions are subsumed however under a regime of violence and fear catapulting men, albeit with contestation, as chief vectors in the spread of the disease and a source of girls' anxieties. Children's responses to the disease are the effects of material, symbolic and discursive forces effectively constraining the opportunities available to them and creating patterns of vulnerability especially for young girls. Interventions aimed at scaling up efforts to address young children responses to the disease must be situated in parallel efforts to end poverty, sexual violence and pervasive gender inequalities in order to foster more comprehensively the exercise of young children's agency.     

Stigma rises despite antiretroviral roll-out: A longitudinal analysis in South Africa

Stigma is a recognised problem for effective prevention, treatment, and care of HIV/AIDS. However, few studies have measured changes in the magnitude and character of stigma over time. This paper provides the first quantitative evaluation in Africa of the changing nature of stigma and the potential determinants of these changes. More specifically, it evaluates the dynamic relationship between stigma and (1) increased personal contact with people living with HIV/AIDS and (2) knowing people who died of AIDS. Panel survey data collected in Cape town 2003 and 2006 for 1074 young adults aged 14–22 years were used to evaluate changes in three distinct dimensions of stigma: behavioural intentions towards people living with HIV/AIDS; instrumental stigma; and symbolic stigma. Individual fixed effects regression models are used to evaluate factors that influence stigma over time. Each dimension of stigma increased in the population as a whole, and for all racial and gender sub-groups. Symbolic stigma increased the most, followed by instrumental stigma, while negative behavioural intentions showed a modest increase. Knowing someone who died of AIDS was significantly associated with an increase in instrumental stigma and symbolic stigma, while increased personal contact with people living with HIV/AIDS was not significantly associated with any changes in stigma. Despite interventions, such as public-sector provision of antiretroviral treatment (which some hoped would have reduced stigma), stigma increased among a sample highly targeted with HIV-prevention messages. These findings emphasise that changes in stigma are difficult to predict and thus important to monitor. They also indicate the imperative for renewed efforts to reduce stigma, perhaps through interventions to weaken the association between HIV/AIDS and death, to reduce fear of HIV/AIDS, and to recast HIV as a chronic manageable disease.     

中西药物保留灌肠合并针灸治疗溃疡性结肠炎的临床研究

目的 观察中西药物保留灌肠合并针灸治疗溃疡性结肠炎(UC)的疗效.方法 对确诊的63例UC患者随机分为两组,治疗组(32例)用中西药物150 mL睡前保留灌肠合并针灸治疗,每日1次,疗程4周;对照组(31例)用强的松龙100 mg、庆大霉素16万u加生理盐水150 mL睡前保留灌肠,每日1次,疗程4周.然后比较疗效.结果 治疗组疗效明显高于对照组,总有效率分别为96.9%和77.4%,1年复发率分别为9.37%和25.8% (P<0.05).两组差异有统计学意义.结论 中西药物保留灌肠合并针灸治疗UC疗效显著,复发率低,有临床应用价值.     

Teachers'' perceptions concerning the relative values of personal and clinical characteristics and their influence on the assignment of students'' clinical grades

Twenty senior teachers were asked to rank, in order of influence, the seven clinical and five personal characteristics used to grade third-year medicine clerks. Seventeen perceived themselves to be more influenced by clinical characteristics when assigning grades. Independently, the actual ratings completed over a 3-year period by these same teachers were analysed to measure the congruency between their perceived and actual grading behaviour. When actually rating students only nine raters were more influenced by clinical characteristics and just one half of the teachers displayed a congruency between their perceived and actual rating behaviour. The implications of these findings are discussed.