SWAZILAND’s membership in the ACP group and its access to the European Union sugar markets, will play a significant role in Illovo International Sugar’s plans to boost its sugar production by 50 percent in the next five years.
This was reflected in a story carried by Business Report, an insert of South Africa’s The Star yesterday.
Mandla Hlatshwayo, the newly appointed Managing Director of Ubombo Sugar Limited - a subsidiary of Illovo International, will channel the institution’s operations towards achieving that goal.
He assumes the post next week.
“Illovo Sugar, which uplifted attributable profit 44 percent to E516.5 million in the year to March, plans to boost its sugar production 50 percent to 2.6 million tons by 2012,” the publication stated.
Managing Director Don McLeod said on Tuesday that good growing conditions in the areas where Illovo operates were driving the expansion which would be announced in phases.
“Expansion would enable Illovo to take greater advantage of increased access to markets in the EU. For example, Swaziland is part of the Caribbean Pacific group and the other counties where it operates (excluding South Africa) are classified as least developed countries (LDCs).
This means that all the countries where Illovo operates will have duty-free, quota-free access to the EU from 2009,” the report stated.
It was added that of the E1.79 billion Illovo approved for capital expenditure, E1.4 billion has been earmarked to increase the area of irrigated cane in Zambia by 50 percent.
The publication stated that Illovo had also earmarked on smaller factory expansions in Malawi, Tanzania as well as planting additional cane in these countries.
“Operating profit was up 38 percent to E1 billion and operating margins rose to 16.5 percent from 13.7 percent.
Malawi made a 39 percent contribution to operating profit due to record cane production. Zambia contributed 22 percent and South Africa 21 percent followed by smaller contributions from Tanzania, Swaziland and Mozambique.
Group cane production, at E5.4 million tons was on a par with the previous season but the sugar production of 1.72 million tons was lower because adverse weather conditions in South Africa and Tanzania limited yields,” it was stated.
It was stated that the group’s strong results were achieved through the improved world and regional sugar price compared with 2005, when it stood at about $0.08 a pound (E1.24 a kilogram).
Strong domestic market sales also helped.
The sugar price dropped from peak of $0.197 a pound in February, 2006 to $0.10 a pound a year later.
Macleod said: “I believe the sugar price stabilise at current levels in the short term, but in the next 18 months it will increase to between $0.12 and $0.14.”
The price has been dampened by increased sugar production in India, Brazil, China and Thailand, as well as a lower-than-expected fall in EU production.
However, the EU is planning to make the voluntary renunciation of quotas more attractive to growers and manufacturers, to help to re-establish equilibrium in the region before increased imports from LCDs in 2009.
Illovo shares rose 79c to E21.20, while the food producers sectors gained 0.58 percent.
Thursday, 24 May 2007
South Africa: Staff Shortages Cause Key ARV Programme to Falter
Medecins Sans Frontieres' (MSF) flagship antiretroviral programme in Khayelitsha is taking strain and has been forced to put patients on waiting lists as nurses and doctors struggle to cope with the growing demand.
In a report titled "Help Wanted", the humanitarian organization warns that efforts to further increase access to HIV treatment and maintain and improve quality of care are coming up against a wall due to the severe shortage of health workers.
"This is contributing to unnecessary illness and death," the authors said.
MSF began providing antiretroviral therapy in 2000 and has reached 80 000 people in more than 30 countries.
The impact of the human resource crisis is witnessed by MSF across southern Africa, the epicentre of the AIDS pandemic.
"Health workers are overwhelmed, overworked and exhausted," the report said.
Dr Eric Goemaere, head of the MSF mission in South Africa, said the clinics are inundated: "The international community says it wants to achieve universal access, and in Khayelitsha we were coming close, but at a certain point things started to collapse. We are absolutely saturated, and even with all of MSF's means, we have come back to waiting lists, and it feels again like we are losing the battle.
"For those guys sitting in offices far away from the epidemic our message is that you will be held responsible if you are not reactive or flexible enough to find solutions to the staff shortages."
MSF has been supporting provincial and city clinics in Khayelitsha since 2000, and the programme is often held up as a best-practice project worldwide.
Since 2001, 7 262 adults and children have been initiated on treatment and 5 848 (81%) remain in care.
But last December, for the 107 patients started on ARV treatment at three clinics in Khayelitsha another 396 others were put on a waiting list.
Mpumelelo Mantangana, a professional nurse at the Ubuntu TB/HIV Clinic in Khayelitsha summed up the feeling of many health workers: "When we started giving ARVs, we felt an injection of morale because we could now do something to keep our patients alive. But now, where there are so many people infected, we can't cope with the demand."
Mantangana said she was still trying to work with "passion", but that conditions were demoralizing: "The workload increases by the day. On top of that, since 2003, there are two vacant posts for professional nurses in this clinic. If it was not because I am motivated, nearly a militant, supporting the ARV roll out, I would have left long ago."
MSF has also worked in the Eastern Cape's Lusikisiki sub-district, one of the poorest and most densely populated rural areas in South Africa, where there is one hospital, 12 clinics and 80% of residents live below the poverty line.
The number of doctors in the sub-district is 14 times lower than the national level while, in 2005, almost four in ten nursing posts in the province were vacant.
MSF implemented an ARV programme at primary care level and was able to rapidly scale up treatment through task-shifting to nurses, community mobilization and the use of lay workers and community volunteers.
Utilisation of clinic services almost doubled in two years, but the number of professional nurses remained constant.
By October last year, 2 200 people were receiving ARVs with over 80% of patients remaining in care after 12 months. This programme is now run by the provincial health department.
Government's new National Strategic Plan (NSP) sets as a goal the treatment of 80% of all HIV positive people by 2011. Yet 35 000 people are already officially on waiting lists for treatment.
The plan also predicts that most people in need of treatment will receive it from nurses in primary care clinics rather than doctors in hospitals.
However, MSF cautioned that the NSP could be hampered by the human resources shortages which it said were not addressed in the health department's "Human Resources for Health Plan".
The MSF report also looked at Lesotho, Malawi and Mozambique where the situation is even more dire than in South Africa.
While South Africa has on average 74 doctors per 100 000 inhabitants, Lesotho has five, and Malawi and Mozambique only two.
The number of nurses per 100 000 in South Africa is around 393, but 62 in Lesotho, 56 in Malawi and a mere 20 in Mozambique.
n Thyolo district in Malawi, a single medical assistant can see up to 200 patients per day. In Mavalane district in Mozambique, patients are forced to wait up to two months to start ARV treatment because of lack of doctors and nurses, and many have died during the wait.
In Scott Hospital Health Service Area in Lesotho, over half of professional nursing posts at health centres are vacant while the HIV-associated workload is increasing sharply.
"Access to drugs is a necessary condition, but will not be enough to save millions of lives at risk unless priority is also given to ensure the necessary personnel to provide treatment," the MSF report concludes.
In a report titled "Help Wanted", the humanitarian organization warns that efforts to further increase access to HIV treatment and maintain and improve quality of care are coming up against a wall due to the severe shortage of health workers.
"This is contributing to unnecessary illness and death," the authors said.
MSF began providing antiretroviral therapy in 2000 and has reached 80 000 people in more than 30 countries.
The impact of the human resource crisis is witnessed by MSF across southern Africa, the epicentre of the AIDS pandemic.
"Health workers are overwhelmed, overworked and exhausted," the report said.
Dr Eric Goemaere, head of the MSF mission in South Africa, said the clinics are inundated: "The international community says it wants to achieve universal access, and in Khayelitsha we were coming close, but at a certain point things started to collapse. We are absolutely saturated, and even with all of MSF's means, we have come back to waiting lists, and it feels again like we are losing the battle.
"For those guys sitting in offices far away from the epidemic our message is that you will be held responsible if you are not reactive or flexible enough to find solutions to the staff shortages."
MSF has been supporting provincial and city clinics in Khayelitsha since 2000, and the programme is often held up as a best-practice project worldwide.
Since 2001, 7 262 adults and children have been initiated on treatment and 5 848 (81%) remain in care.
But last December, for the 107 patients started on ARV treatment at three clinics in Khayelitsha another 396 others were put on a waiting list.
Mpumelelo Mantangana, a professional nurse at the Ubuntu TB/HIV Clinic in Khayelitsha summed up the feeling of many health workers: "When we started giving ARVs, we felt an injection of morale because we could now do something to keep our patients alive. But now, where there are so many people infected, we can't cope with the demand."
Mantangana said she was still trying to work with "passion", but that conditions were demoralizing: "The workload increases by the day. On top of that, since 2003, there are two vacant posts for professional nurses in this clinic. If it was not because I am motivated, nearly a militant, supporting the ARV roll out, I would have left long ago."
MSF has also worked in the Eastern Cape's Lusikisiki sub-district, one of the poorest and most densely populated rural areas in South Africa, where there is one hospital, 12 clinics and 80% of residents live below the poverty line.
The number of doctors in the sub-district is 14 times lower than the national level while, in 2005, almost four in ten nursing posts in the province were vacant.
MSF implemented an ARV programme at primary care level and was able to rapidly scale up treatment through task-shifting to nurses, community mobilization and the use of lay workers and community volunteers.
Utilisation of clinic services almost doubled in two years, but the number of professional nurses remained constant.
By October last year, 2 200 people were receiving ARVs with over 80% of patients remaining in care after 12 months. This programme is now run by the provincial health department.
Government's new National Strategic Plan (NSP) sets as a goal the treatment of 80% of all HIV positive people by 2011. Yet 35 000 people are already officially on waiting lists for treatment.
The plan also predicts that most people in need of treatment will receive it from nurses in primary care clinics rather than doctors in hospitals.
However, MSF cautioned that the NSP could be hampered by the human resources shortages which it said were not addressed in the health department's "Human Resources for Health Plan".
The MSF report also looked at Lesotho, Malawi and Mozambique where the situation is even more dire than in South Africa.
While South Africa has on average 74 doctors per 100 000 inhabitants, Lesotho has five, and Malawi and Mozambique only two.
The number of nurses per 100 000 in South Africa is around 393, but 62 in Lesotho, 56 in Malawi and a mere 20 in Mozambique.
n Thyolo district in Malawi, a single medical assistant can see up to 200 patients per day. In Mavalane district in Mozambique, patients are forced to wait up to two months to start ARV treatment because of lack of doctors and nurses, and many have died during the wait.
In Scott Hospital Health Service Area in Lesotho, over half of professional nursing posts at health centres are vacant while the HIV-associated workload is increasing sharply.
"Access to drugs is a necessary condition, but will not be enough to save millions of lives at risk unless priority is also given to ensure the necessary personnel to provide treatment," the MSF report concludes.
Global Health Connections: North Carolina to Africa
I am in Brussels, and leave for South Africa this evening.
This is a trip for me to learn first hand what UNC is doing in Africa – focused on South Africa and Malawi.
It is important to understand why we are involved there – and, as is the case for all of global health – we do this not only for humanitarian reasons, but especially to benefit the citizens of North Carolina.
Our work in Malawi is supported by $8 million per year in research grants, which comes to UNC. This supports the salaries of UNC faculty who provide care to North Carolinians and teach UNC students. It also provides training opportunities for UNC medical students, residents and graduate students – over 20 this year alone.
UNC’s facilities in Malawi also gives us cutting edge labs in a distant country, which allows us to keep track of emerging infections that eventually might be problematic for North Carolina citizens. And the development of diagnostic assays and prevention and treatment plans in Africa will also advance care in North Carolina.
In South Africa we have UNC grad students and faculty working with key researchers. And we are working on a three-way partnership between the University of the Witwatersrand and the College of Medicine of Malawi, for training of Malawi health professionals in southern Africa, who will return to work in Malawi.
Working with senior governmental officials in Malawi and South Africa – as I and others will be doing this week – helps establish friendly links with other countries that are trading partners of the United States.
So UNC’s global health initiatives are important for our contributions that help others – but also because this work directly benefits the people of North Carolina. We seek to grow and expand these vital activities around the world, and at home.
This is a trip for me to learn first hand what UNC is doing in Africa – focused on South Africa and Malawi.
It is important to understand why we are involved there – and, as is the case for all of global health – we do this not only for humanitarian reasons, but especially to benefit the citizens of North Carolina.
Our work in Malawi is supported by $8 million per year in research grants, which comes to UNC. This supports the salaries of UNC faculty who provide care to North Carolinians and teach UNC students. It also provides training opportunities for UNC medical students, residents and graduate students – over 20 this year alone.
UNC’s facilities in Malawi also gives us cutting edge labs in a distant country, which allows us to keep track of emerging infections that eventually might be problematic for North Carolina citizens. And the development of diagnostic assays and prevention and treatment plans in Africa will also advance care in North Carolina.
In South Africa we have UNC grad students and faculty working with key researchers. And we are working on a three-way partnership between the University of the Witwatersrand and the College of Medicine of Malawi, for training of Malawi health professionals in southern Africa, who will return to work in Malawi.
Working with senior governmental officials in Malawi and South Africa – as I and others will be doing this week – helps establish friendly links with other countries that are trading partners of the United States.
So UNC’s global health initiatives are important for our contributions that help others – but also because this work directly benefits the people of North Carolina. We seek to grow and expand these vital activities around the world, and at home.
Old Medicine for Current Problems: Dancing Aids in Malawi
In addition to the enormous collection of Native American masks, the Museum of Anthropology now has some African masks from Malawi on temporary exhibit for The Village is Tilting: Dancing AIDS in Malawi. I have been trying to get out to UBC to see this for a really long time and although smaller than I expected, the masks are well worth the wait.
The Chewa people have long been mask-makers, and used this tradition historically to show what is culturally important and relevant to them through dancing. Now they've updated the tradition to the modern age, to portray the AIDS epidemic and its affect on their people.
Here's a blurb from the museum:
For over a thousand years the Chewa people of Malawi have reaffirmed their collective voice and identity through the masked spirit dances of Gule Wamkulu (The Great Dance). Yet, like the Chewa themselves, the community rituals of the Gule Wamkulu have continually re-adapted to changing forces and events. The most recent of these forces has been the devastating AIDS pandemic and its uncompromising sweep across Africa.
The Village is Tilting: Dancing AIDS in Malawi features a series of masks, photographs, and videos documenting the depth of awareness and cultural response to the AIDS pandemic by rural Malawians. More than a plaintive victim's cry, The Village is Tilting uses elements of Gule Wamkulu itself - dance, drama, dialogue, and humour - to strip away conventional images of AIDS to reveal its inextricable links to an interconnected set of conditions and causes: poverty, gender inequality, and civil injustice.
I love it when old traditions are merged with new ones and updated and changed along with the community, so I was fascinated with this exhibit. The masks show a number of different "characters" in various stages of declining health, but also carrying strong messages. One in particular, "Beware of the Penis" cautions girls about being sexually active. Another called "The Philanderer" warns about seemingly charming men (interestingly, this character wears western dress) with money.
The exhibit does a nice job of showing the mask accompanied by a photograph of the full costume, and also has video footage of the masks being danced ceremonially in Malawi. These three levels of detail are imperative in understanding the masks in their culturally context, I think, but here's where I think the Museum of Anthropology could have done it a bit better - it's very dark in the room, and the write-ups about the masks are printed underneath them, in gold ink on red lacquer. This means you have to look at the mask from arm's length, get right in there up close to read about it and then back up again to see what you just learned. I'm sure that my eyesight isn't the problem here, and while it's hardly the end of the world, I did find it inconvenient. A further inconvenience are that the videos seem to be placed wherever they could find a power outlet - in the hall, in a dark corner, and none of them really nearby the masks they were illustrating. But it is a temporary exhibit space and they are no doubt doing the best they can with what's available.
The exhibit will be at the Museum of Anthropology all summer, until September 3rd. If you haven't been to the Museum of Anthropology before, make sure you take some extra time to check out the Grand Gallery and the Bill Reid collection.
Image courtesy of wax lion on flickr.
The Chewa people have long been mask-makers, and used this tradition historically to show what is culturally important and relevant to them through dancing. Now they've updated the tradition to the modern age, to portray the AIDS epidemic and its affect on their people.
Here's a blurb from the museum:
For over a thousand years the Chewa people of Malawi have reaffirmed their collective voice and identity through the masked spirit dances of Gule Wamkulu (The Great Dance). Yet, like the Chewa themselves, the community rituals of the Gule Wamkulu have continually re-adapted to changing forces and events. The most recent of these forces has been the devastating AIDS pandemic and its uncompromising sweep across Africa.
The Village is Tilting: Dancing AIDS in Malawi features a series of masks, photographs, and videos documenting the depth of awareness and cultural response to the AIDS pandemic by rural Malawians. More than a plaintive victim's cry, The Village is Tilting uses elements of Gule Wamkulu itself - dance, drama, dialogue, and humour - to strip away conventional images of AIDS to reveal its inextricable links to an interconnected set of conditions and causes: poverty, gender inequality, and civil injustice.
I love it when old traditions are merged with new ones and updated and changed along with the community, so I was fascinated with this exhibit. The masks show a number of different "characters" in various stages of declining health, but also carrying strong messages. One in particular, "Beware of the Penis" cautions girls about being sexually active. Another called "The Philanderer" warns about seemingly charming men (interestingly, this character wears western dress) with money.
The exhibit does a nice job of showing the mask accompanied by a photograph of the full costume, and also has video footage of the masks being danced ceremonially in Malawi. These three levels of detail are imperative in understanding the masks in their culturally context, I think, but here's where I think the Museum of Anthropology could have done it a bit better - it's very dark in the room, and the write-ups about the masks are printed underneath them, in gold ink on red lacquer. This means you have to look at the mask from arm's length, get right in there up close to read about it and then back up again to see what you just learned. I'm sure that my eyesight isn't the problem here, and while it's hardly the end of the world, I did find it inconvenient. A further inconvenience are that the videos seem to be placed wherever they could find a power outlet - in the hall, in a dark corner, and none of them really nearby the masks they were illustrating. But it is a temporary exhibit space and they are no doubt doing the best they can with what's available.
The exhibit will be at the Museum of Anthropology all summer, until September 3rd. If you haven't been to the Museum of Anthropology before, make sure you take some extra time to check out the Grand Gallery and the Bill Reid collection.
Image courtesy of wax lion on flickr.
Lack of Doctors Said Hurts AIDS Patients
A shortage of doctors and nurses in Africa is now one of the biggest obstacles to providing life-saving drugs to AIDS patients, condemning untold numbers to an unnecessary death, a new report says.
Africa has increased the number of AIDS sufferers on treatment from 100,000 in 2003 to 1.3 million last year, but a lack of medical workers is preventing further expansion of drug programs, according to the report released Thursday by Medecins Sans Frontiers.
"The international community says it wants to achieve universal access, and in Khayelitsha we were coming close, but at a certain point things started to collapse," said Eric Goemaere, who heads the agency _ also known as Doctors Without Borders _ in that sprawling Cape Town township.
"We are absolutely saturated. We have come back to waiting lists and it feels again like we are losing the battle," he said.
Southern Africa is hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic, accounting for the vast majority of the 40 million infections and the daily death toll of 8,000. Despite the advances in AIDS treatment taken for granted in rich countries, more than 70 percent of Africans who need it are still waiting.
On an average day, about 200 AIDS patients flock to the clinic set up by Doctors Without Borders in Khayelitsha. Many others languish at home, not for lack of drugs but because there aren't enough health workers to administer them.
At the clinic in Khayelitsha _ where about 30 percent of adults have the AIDS virus _ nearly 6,000 people are currently receiving anti-retroviral therapy. But the number of new patients starting treatment each month dropped from 270 in May 2006 to 100 last December _ mainly because of lack of health workers.
Mpumelelo Mantangana, a nurse at the clinic, says her workload has soared as other nursing staff have left for better-paid jobs in the private sector or abroad. She understands why _ the work is exhausting and the pay is peanuts.
"I work purely because of passion for what we are doing. People come in and they are very sick and we see them get better. That is the only thing which gives us strength," she said in an interview at the clinic, where long lines of people waited patiently on wooden benches.
South Africa has 393 nurses and 74 doctors per 100,000 people, but a high percentage work in the private sector and shortages are especially acute in rural areas. This compares to 901 nurses and 247 doctors per 100,000 people in the United States.
In tiny Lesotho, which is also ravaged by AIDS, there are just five doctors and 63 nurses per 100,000 people. In Malawi, there are two doctors and 56 nurses, and in Mozambique three doctors and 20 nurses.
Africa has increased the number of AIDS sufferers on treatment from 100,000 in 2003 to 1.3 million last year, but a lack of medical workers is preventing further expansion of drug programs, according to the report released Thursday by Medecins Sans Frontiers.
"The international community says it wants to achieve universal access, and in Khayelitsha we were coming close, but at a certain point things started to collapse," said Eric Goemaere, who heads the agency _ also known as Doctors Without Borders _ in that sprawling Cape Town township.
"We are absolutely saturated. We have come back to waiting lists and it feels again like we are losing the battle," he said.
Southern Africa is hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic, accounting for the vast majority of the 40 million infections and the daily death toll of 8,000. Despite the advances in AIDS treatment taken for granted in rich countries, more than 70 percent of Africans who need it are still waiting.
On an average day, about 200 AIDS patients flock to the clinic set up by Doctors Without Borders in Khayelitsha. Many others languish at home, not for lack of drugs but because there aren't enough health workers to administer them.
At the clinic in Khayelitsha _ where about 30 percent of adults have the AIDS virus _ nearly 6,000 people are currently receiving anti-retroviral therapy. But the number of new patients starting treatment each month dropped from 270 in May 2006 to 100 last December _ mainly because of lack of health workers.
Mpumelelo Mantangana, a nurse at the clinic, says her workload has soared as other nursing staff have left for better-paid jobs in the private sector or abroad. She understands why _ the work is exhausting and the pay is peanuts.
"I work purely because of passion for what we are doing. People come in and they are very sick and we see them get better. That is the only thing which gives us strength," she said in an interview at the clinic, where long lines of people waited patiently on wooden benches.
South Africa has 393 nurses and 74 doctors per 100,000 people, but a high percentage work in the private sector and shortages are especially acute in rural areas. This compares to 901 nurses and 247 doctors per 100,000 people in the United States.
In tiny Lesotho, which is also ravaged by AIDS, there are just five doctors and 63 nurses per 100,000 people. In Malawi, there are two doctors and 56 nurses, and in Mozambique three doctors and 20 nurses.
Parreira to join Bafana in Swaziland
Against medical and Safa advice to "take it easy" after being in hospital last week for complications related to a broken rib, Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira will travel to Swaziland to oversee what could be a more tricky Cosafa Cup programme over the weekend than many imagine.
And while there is a possibility the worldly, experienced coach will not be on the bench to do the spade work for Saturday's game against Malawi, Parreira is a firm believer in the dictum that "no game should be taken for granted" - and he will want to make sure nothing goes wrong, no matter what his vantage point.
The Bafana coach has also emphasised that players from what is effectively a Bafana B squad who shine in the games against Malawi on Saturday and possibly Swaziland on Sunday could earn a call-up to join the "senior" complement of 19 who have already been named for the African Nations Cup qualifier against Chad in Durban on June 2.
In the first instance, however, Malawi have intimated their determination to upstage Bafana by selecting a near-full-strength squad, which includes a number of players from clubs in the Premier League.
And, should Bafana overcome the Malawi hurdle, the likelihood is that they will face equally determined opposition only 24 hours later.
The two-day Cosafa programme acts as a qualifying segment for the semi-finals, which will be made up of holders Zambia and the winners of three separate qualifying groups.
And after 10 years of competition, the warning signs are somewhat foreboding for Bafana - who have only won the annual competition once during this period.
The Bafana squad departed for Swaziland on Thursday afternoon under the tutelage of assistant coaches Jairo Leal and Pitso Mosimane, with Parreira due to join them in Mbabane on Friday.
And while there is a possibility the worldly, experienced coach will not be on the bench to do the spade work for Saturday's game against Malawi, Parreira is a firm believer in the dictum that "no game should be taken for granted" - and he will want to make sure nothing goes wrong, no matter what his vantage point.
The Bafana coach has also emphasised that players from what is effectively a Bafana B squad who shine in the games against Malawi on Saturday and possibly Swaziland on Sunday could earn a call-up to join the "senior" complement of 19 who have already been named for the African Nations Cup qualifier against Chad in Durban on June 2.
In the first instance, however, Malawi have intimated their determination to upstage Bafana by selecting a near-full-strength squad, which includes a number of players from clubs in the Premier League.
And, should Bafana overcome the Malawi hurdle, the likelihood is that they will face equally determined opposition only 24 hours later.
The two-day Cosafa programme acts as a qualifying segment for the semi-finals, which will be made up of holders Zambia and the winners of three separate qualifying groups.
And after 10 years of competition, the warning signs are somewhat foreboding for Bafana - who have only won the annual competition once during this period.
The Bafana squad departed for Swaziland on Thursday afternoon under the tutelage of assistant coaches Jairo Leal and Pitso Mosimane, with Parreira due to join them in Mbabane on Friday.
HELP WANTED: Health worker shortage limits access to HIV/AIDS treatment in southern Africa
Severe shortages of health staff are compromising the quality and availability of HIV/AIDS care across southern Africa. There is wide acknowledgement of the human resource crisis, but little action on the ground. MSF is urging governments to develop and implement emergency plans to retain and recruit health care workers that include measures to raise pay and improve working conditions.
he dire lack of health care workers in southern Africa is threatening efforts to expand access to HIV/AIDS treatment, warned the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in a new report issued today.
The report covers four southern African countries - Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa - where more than one million people still need life-saving antiretroviral treatment but do not have access to it. Lack of action will result in unnecessary illness and death.
"In Thyolo district we are treating 7,000 people with HIV/AIDS. We need to increase this number to 10,000 by the end of the year, but our programme is hitting a wall because there are simply not enough nurses, doctors and medical assistants," said Veronica Chikafa, a nurse/matron working with MSF in Malawi.
Severe shortages of health staff are compromising the quality and availability of HIV/AIDS care across southern Africa. In Thyolo district in Malawi, a medical assistant can see up to 200 patients per day, far too many to ensure quality care. In Mavalane district in Mozambique, patients are forced to wait for up to two months to start treatment because of the lack of doctors and nurses, and many have died during the wait.
In Lesotho there are only 89 doctors in the whole country.
"Providing HIV care in rural clinics depends on nurses, but they are overwhelmed by the number of patients," said Dr Pheello Lethola, Field Doctor for MSF in Lesotho. "Consultation times are too short, and sick patients suffer needlessly. When nurses suffer, patients suffer."
There is wide acknowledgement of the human resource crisis, but little action on the ground. MSF is urging governments to develop and implement emergency plans to retain and recruit health care workers that include measures to raise pay and improve working conditions.
In most countries this will only happen if donors change their policies and start providing financial support for recurrent costs such as salaries. Ministries of finance and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will need to find solutions to overcome "caps" on the number of health workers and level of salaries. Otherwise, governments will not be able to respond adequately to the unmet need for treatment.
Even in South Africa, which has more health care workers who are better paid compared to other southern African countries, unequal distribution and inadequate numbers of staff are causing delays to expanding treatment.
"Clinics are absolutely saturated, waiting lists are growing, and it feels like we are losing the battle, "said Dr Eric Goemaere, head of MSF's programme in Khayelitsha, Western Cape. "For people making policies in offices far away from patients, our message is that you will be held responsible if you are not reactive or flexible enough to find solutions to the staff shortages."
To expand access to HIV care in rural settings MSF teams have relied on "task-shifting" from doctors to nurses and nurses to community workers. But these are limited measures that do not remove the need for additional skilled staff.
"It is incomprehensible that donors provide funds for life-long aids treatment and the building of new clinics, but refuse support for health care worker salaries on the grounds that this is 'unsustainable,'" said Sharonann Lynch, Treatment Literacy Coordinator for MSF in Lesotho. "People living with HIV/AIDS do not only need drugs and clinics; they need trained, motivated health care workers to diagnose, monitor, and treat them."
In the four countries profiled in this report, MSF is presently providing antiretroviral treatment (ART) for nearly 30,000 people. Worldwide, MSF provides ART to over 80,000 patients in more than 30 countries.
he dire lack of health care workers in southern Africa is threatening efforts to expand access to HIV/AIDS treatment, warned the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in a new report issued today.
The report covers four southern African countries - Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa - where more than one million people still need life-saving antiretroviral treatment but do not have access to it. Lack of action will result in unnecessary illness and death.
"In Thyolo district we are treating 7,000 people with HIV/AIDS. We need to increase this number to 10,000 by the end of the year, but our programme is hitting a wall because there are simply not enough nurses, doctors and medical assistants," said Veronica Chikafa, a nurse/matron working with MSF in Malawi.
Severe shortages of health staff are compromising the quality and availability of HIV/AIDS care across southern Africa. In Thyolo district in Malawi, a medical assistant can see up to 200 patients per day, far too many to ensure quality care. In Mavalane district in Mozambique, patients are forced to wait for up to two months to start treatment because of the lack of doctors and nurses, and many have died during the wait.
In Lesotho there are only 89 doctors in the whole country.
"Providing HIV care in rural clinics depends on nurses, but they are overwhelmed by the number of patients," said Dr Pheello Lethola, Field Doctor for MSF in Lesotho. "Consultation times are too short, and sick patients suffer needlessly. When nurses suffer, patients suffer."
There is wide acknowledgement of the human resource crisis, but little action on the ground. MSF is urging governments to develop and implement emergency plans to retain and recruit health care workers that include measures to raise pay and improve working conditions.
In most countries this will only happen if donors change their policies and start providing financial support for recurrent costs such as salaries. Ministries of finance and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will need to find solutions to overcome "caps" on the number of health workers and level of salaries. Otherwise, governments will not be able to respond adequately to the unmet need for treatment.
Even in South Africa, which has more health care workers who are better paid compared to other southern African countries, unequal distribution and inadequate numbers of staff are causing delays to expanding treatment.
"Clinics are absolutely saturated, waiting lists are growing, and it feels like we are losing the battle, "said Dr Eric Goemaere, head of MSF's programme in Khayelitsha, Western Cape. "For people making policies in offices far away from patients, our message is that you will be held responsible if you are not reactive or flexible enough to find solutions to the staff shortages."
To expand access to HIV care in rural settings MSF teams have relied on "task-shifting" from doctors to nurses and nurses to community workers. But these are limited measures that do not remove the need for additional skilled staff.
"It is incomprehensible that donors provide funds for life-long aids treatment and the building of new clinics, but refuse support for health care worker salaries on the grounds that this is 'unsustainable,'" said Sharonann Lynch, Treatment Literacy Coordinator for MSF in Lesotho. "People living with HIV/AIDS do not only need drugs and clinics; they need trained, motivated health care workers to diagnose, monitor, and treat them."
In the four countries profiled in this report, MSF is presently providing antiretroviral treatment (ART) for nearly 30,000 people. Worldwide, MSF provides ART to over 80,000 patients in more than 30 countries.
Malawi to miss star players too
The South African technical team may have expressed fears that Malawi would choose their strongest squad possible for the looming Cosafa Castle Cup clash between the sides, but, if anything, they look more under-strength than Bafana's B side.
Without Essau Kanyenda and Russell Mwafulirwa, two of their most prolific strikers, the Flames will be relying mainly on their seven South Africa-based players to see them home at Somhlolo Stadium, Swaziland, on Saturday.
Peter Mponda, Robert Ngambi and Jimmy Zakazaka are some of the the players on whom Malawi coach Steven Constantine will place his faith, but, on paper, these players are not necessarily better than the uncapped youngsters who make up most of Carlos Parreira's squad.
While the Bafana coach may call on the experience of Moeneeb Josephs in goal, the Flames will have Swadick Sanudi, who plays for Mvela League club Dynamos. Also, few have heard of James Sangala, of Benoni United, and Allan Kamanga, the City Pillars player. So you'd have to say Parreira was correct in leaving out players such as Rowen Fernandez and Benedict Vilakazi for this regional tournament.
Malawi squad
Goalkeepers: Simeon Kapuza (Escom United), Swadick Sanudi (Dynamos, South Africa)
Defenders: Moses Chavula (Wanderers), Elvis Kafoteka (Escom United), Allan Kamanga (City Pillars, SA), Peter Mponda (Black Leopards, SA), Wisdom Ndlovu (Young Africans, Tanzania), James Sangala (Benoni United, SA)
Midfielders: Fundi Akidu (Big Bullets), Dave Banda (Red Lions), James Chilapondwa (Young Africans, Tanzania), Tawonga Chimodzi, Emmanuel Chipatala (both Silver Strikers), Joseph Kamwendo (Wanderers), Fischer Kondowe, Robert Ngambi (both Leopards, SA), Jacob Ngwira (Escom United)
Strikers: Noel Mkandawire, Chiukepo Msowoya (both Escom United), Sankhani Nyirenda (Eagle Beaks), Jimmy Zakazaka (Free State Stars, SA)
Without Essau Kanyenda and Russell Mwafulirwa, two of their most prolific strikers, the Flames will be relying mainly on their seven South Africa-based players to see them home at Somhlolo Stadium, Swaziland, on Saturday.
Peter Mponda, Robert Ngambi and Jimmy Zakazaka are some of the the players on whom Malawi coach Steven Constantine will place his faith, but, on paper, these players are not necessarily better than the uncapped youngsters who make up most of Carlos Parreira's squad.
While the Bafana coach may call on the experience of Moeneeb Josephs in goal, the Flames will have Swadick Sanudi, who plays for Mvela League club Dynamos. Also, few have heard of James Sangala, of Benoni United, and Allan Kamanga, the City Pillars player. So you'd have to say Parreira was correct in leaving out players such as Rowen Fernandez and Benedict Vilakazi for this regional tournament.
Malawi squad
Goalkeepers: Simeon Kapuza (Escom United), Swadick Sanudi (Dynamos, South Africa)
Defenders: Moses Chavula (Wanderers), Elvis Kafoteka (Escom United), Allan Kamanga (City Pillars, SA), Peter Mponda (Black Leopards, SA), Wisdom Ndlovu (Young Africans, Tanzania), James Sangala (Benoni United, SA)
Midfielders: Fundi Akidu (Big Bullets), Dave Banda (Red Lions), James Chilapondwa (Young Africans, Tanzania), Tawonga Chimodzi, Emmanuel Chipatala (both Silver Strikers), Joseph Kamwendo (Wanderers), Fischer Kondowe, Robert Ngambi (both Leopards, SA), Jacob Ngwira (Escom United)
Strikers: Noel Mkandawire, Chiukepo Msowoya (both Escom United), Sankhani Nyirenda (Eagle Beaks), Jimmy Zakazaka (Free State Stars, SA)
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