David Jackson

The statistics on credit extension in South Africa are illuminating and startling. In 2002 R289-billion worth of credit was extended to households. In 2006 that figure soared to R680-billion — more than double the volume of credit in a four-year period. Today the amount of credit granted has spiralled to about R1,1-trillion in total.

The provision in the National Credit Act to assist overindebted people to restructure their debt through debt counselling was not designed as a punitive measure — nor as a measure to enable debt-stressed people to borrow more money to pay off debt.

The third annual Pan African Health (PAH) Congress, which takes place from September 18 to 19 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, is billed as the premier platform for business-to-business networking in Africa’s healthcare industry. The key components of this year’s congress are a conference, a business-to business (B2B) networking forum and the second Absa Healthcare Initiative Awards.

Celebrating 12 years of mental health and advocacy this year, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) is Africa’s largest and most recognised mental health initiative. Noteworthy among the accolades it has achieved was a substantial grant from the World Bank Development Marketplace in 2003.

In 1999 global pharmaceutical and healthcare company Bristol-Myers Squibb and the BMS Foundation made what to this day is the largest corporate commitment to fight HIV/Aids in Africa. This came through the launch of Secure the Future: Care and Support for Women and Children with HIV/Aids. The programme is a $150-million investment, with projects in 12 African countries.

Responding effectively to the HIV/Aids and tuberculosis epidemics is a challenge for companies such as gold producer AngloGold Ashanti for business and moral reasons. The burden of both diseases in the local mining industry is high. Similarly, the high incidence of malaria in the company’s Africa operations calls for effective interventions.

A multifaceted international partnership programme to combat the growing multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) pandemic is well underway, with a five-year project strategy until the end of 2011 also being developed within South Africa. In 2003, global pharmaceutical giant Lilly launched the Lilly Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Partnership project.

In a world of escalating bad news about crime, poverty, violence and ill health, one project has generated good news, provided hope and turned the tide — the Cipla Medpro Miles for Smiles Foundation. The foundation challenged two extreme athletes to participate in a radical event of their choice to capture the attention of all South Africans.

Since doctors diagnosed the first case of Aids in Botswana in 1985, the disease has spread through the population of 1,7 million at a staggering rate. Today, 25% of adults aged 15 to 49 are infected with HIV. Life expectancy in this small sub-Saharan country has plunged from over 65 to about the age of 52.

The importance of keeping accurate short-term sick leave (STSL) statistics is becoming increasingly apparent to South African companies. And, for the first time, the South African market is able to assess STSL data that allows it to benchmark these statistics objectively against local norms.

When you are on the seashore in distress and help is needed fast, dialling 082 911 will unleash a well-oiled rescue machine in the form of Netcare 911 paramedics, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) and Surf Lifesaving SA. Should the distress call come over a weekend or the summer holidays, the chances are that help will arrive by air — a Vodacom Netcare 911 sea rescue helicopter.

Keeping young hearts beating — that’s the mission of the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa’s Children’s Programme, a community-based empowerment project that teaches healthy habits from a young age. With the help of sponsorship from Lucky Star, the foundation has been able to extend its reach beyond the metropolitan precincts and into the rural areas.

One in every 100 children suffers from congenital heart defects – and as many as 95% of these can be treated through surgery, enabling them to go on to live normal lives. But without treatment, these children die within weeks. Less than 30% of indigent South African children and 1% of children in the rest of the continent can afford the treatment they need.

Lack of qualified human resources in the African healthcare arena continues to hinder poverty reduction and development, opening up further potential for computer-based learning models on the continent. A case in point is Kenya, where almost 90% of the country’s nurses are trained at the lowest “enrolled” status.

South Africa’s presidency presented a challenge to Stellenbosch University towards the end of 2000 — to develop a programme that addresses the HIV/Aids pandemic. So was born the postgraduate diploma in the management of HIV/Aids, which has now been accepted as a model for the African continent.