Developing generalism in the South African context

Developing generalism in the South African context.

The largest impact on the South African burden of disease will be made in community-based and primary healthcare (PHC) settings and not in referral hospitals. Medical generalism is an approach to the delivery of healthcare that routinely applies a broad and holistic perspective to the patient's problems and is a feature of PHC. A multi-professional team of generalists, who share similar values ...

Asthma in the South African Context

There are two important principles in treating any disease: firstly, putting together the constellation of symptoms, signs and results of any specific investigations and coming up with a diagnosis or short differential diagnosis; and secondly, planning a rational course of therapy, be this short or long term, medical or surgical. In South Africa we face a third and crucial addition to these pri...

Sexual health in the South African context.

The atypical pneumonias: The South African context

Introduction Lower respiratory tract infections are a common problem in general practice. Since its isolation more than 120 years ago, Streptococcus pneumoniae has remained the most common organism responsible for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Historically, S. pneumoniae pneumonia was considered to have a “typical” clinical presentation, with the patient experiencing chills, rigors, cough...

Challenges to Cervical Cancer in the Developing Countries: South African Context

Despite the fact that cancer of the cervix is preventable, it is the commonest cancer cause of death in women in sub-Saharan Africa, Melanesia, South Central and South East Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America (Parkin et al., 2005). Southern Africa has one of the highest incident rates in the world, and in South Africa alone it caused the deaths of 3 700 women in 2002 (Denny, 2006). According ...