Parents have the primary role of educating their children about their sexuality. But cultural beliefs and taboos about sex can work strongly against their efforts.
A substantial proportion of people may refuse or delay taking a COVID-19 vaccine.
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The HIV/AIDS response played out over a much longer trajectory than COVID-19. But it is, in some respects, a shining example of what can be achieved when countries and people work together.
People relying on HIV prevention, care and treatment services have become even more vulnerable because of COVID-19.
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If the world is single-minded and focuses purely on combating one pandemic, forgetting others, the effects of other morbidity and mortality on healthcare systems will be seen for a long time to come.
2020 is the international year of the nurse and midwife.
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The giant leap in the number of people accessing HIV treatment would not have been possible without task shifting from medical doctors to less-specialised cadres such as nurses and midwives.
Currently there is no specific antiviral drug to treat COVID-19 and no vaccine to prevent it. Most treatment strategies focus on symptomatic management and supportive therapy.
It is essential to add genomic data from all global populations - including Africa. This will ensure that everyone can benefit from the advances in health.
Antimicrobial resistance is a real threat.
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A stroke often leads to the sudden onset of weakness involving the face, arm or leg, an inability to speak, difficulty walking or impaired vision. Strokes can cause death and irreversible disability.
Early diagnosis and treatment are key in the fight against HIV.
Peter Casaer
One of the main challenges remains that diagnostics and drugs for people suffering from advanced HIV aren’t readily available. This group of people is vulnerable to deadly opportunistic infections.
It has long been recognised that mental disorders can run in families. And often members of such families differ in their symptoms.
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The rapid rise in diabetes mustn’t be overlooked, as it could have devastating health and economic effects. Most national health systems are already struggling with infectious diseases.
Experts say encouraging physical activity should be a priority.
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Being physically active is largely not an individual choice, but a result of what funds, spaces, places and opportunities are available to the individual and communities.
A response led by scientists and researchers must be central to any current and future threats.
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African countries have proven that they have the skills and expertise to provide local solutions to this global pandemic. They need to build on this success together to keep the pandemic at bay.
COVID-19 has exacerbated an already precarious food situation.
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Digital contact tracing apps can successfully contribute to the management of viral outbreaks. These apps can even be designed to protect privacy rights and to work across borders.
Prevention and control measures like insecticide spraying have been hampered by lockdowns.
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Among the health conditions that might have faced a setback is leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease associated with poverty. It can cause devastating lifestyle changes, disability, and even death.
Mona Market in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa operates on the third week of every month when traders set up temporary dwellings for the four days.
Gary Stafford
Most healers still practice in their houses where there is little privacy. Others use more private backrooms. But these spaces were not designed for the practice of traditional medicine.
Mosquitoes and parasites do not respect country borders.
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Jaishree Raman, National Institute for Communicable Diseases and Shüné Oliver, National Institute for Communicable Diseases
Southern African Development Community countries are very connected. Highly mobile and migrant populations frequently cross borders, posing significant challenges to reaching a malaria-free region.