EquitAble access to healthcare for the disabled
The ‘EquitAble' project, which stands for ‘enabling universal and equitable access to healthcare for vulnerable people in resource-poor settings in Africa', funded by the European Union's Funding Programme 7, in which the HSRC's Ms Margie Schneider is a participant, will run for four years in four African countries, namely Namibia, Malawi, Sudan and South Africa. The team leader is Professor Mac MacLachlan from Trinity College in Dublin. The other two South African partners are Stellenbosch University and the Secretariat of the African Decade for Persons with Disabilities. The project focuses on people with activity limitations (a proxy for disability) and looks at their access to healthcare in four sites in each of the four participating African countries. EquitAble aims to look at the relative role of activity limitations alone, or in combination with, other vulnerability factors in generating inequitable access to healthcare. The information provided by this study will not only show the importance of considering disability in a mainstream manner as one of a range of possible vulnerability factors, but will provide useful information on how to develop policies and strategies to ensure equitable access to healthcare for all people.
Researching violent crime
A team of researchers from the programme on Democracy and Governance (D&G) came back from a visit to Brazil and Colombia with a deepened understanding of the challenges the high levels of violence represent for the long-term consolidation of democracy in South Africa, says team member Suren Pillay. They gained knowledge on formulating innovative social interventions to address these challenges at a local policy level. The visit followed a successful international workshop in Cape Town earlier this year to establish a research network on violent crime. Pillay, Vanessa Barolsky and Diana Sanches met with former mayor, Professor Antanas Mockus, in Bogotá, Colombia. Mockus visited the HSRC in March this year, and explained his approach to developing policies which create safer communities. His presentation was enthusiastically received by policy-makers in South Africa at provincial and national levels. The D&G team conducted extensive interviews with key administrators involved in the successful implementation of policy there which radically reduced the homicide rates in Bogotá over a ten-year period. They also held meetings with civic, youth and private sector organisations who have implemented innovative strategies to assist in creating safer communities through the cultivation of citizenship based on the respect for life. In Brazil, meetings were held with colleagues at the State University of Rio, the UN-Habitat division of Brazil, and the Centre for the Study of Violence at the University of Saõ Paulo. Visits were also undertaken to NGO projects working on addressing violence in the favelas - the poor areas of São Paulo and Rio. The levels of inequality and violence that characterise these cities, and the patterns of racial and urban segregation, suggest that key lessons and experiences can be usefully shared by consolidating active research and policy partnerships with organisations in Brazil in the future, Pillay said. (Also read Suren Pillay's opinion piece here.)
Home truths on children, AIDS and poverty
The South African launch of the report, Home Truths: Facing the Facts on Children, AIDS, and Poverty, described as an ‘excellent' report by The Lancet medical journal, took place on 11 August in Pretoria. The report, based on two years' research and analysis by the Joint Learning Initiative on Children and HIV/AIDS, was first launched internationally in London in February. Present at the South African launch were from left, Professor Linda Richter, one of the authors of the report, Dr Olive Shisana, CEO of the HSRC, and Minister of Women, Youth, Children and People with Disabilities, Ms Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya. Articles based on the report have been published in previous editions of the HSRC Review. The full report is available at:
 http://www.hsrc.ac.za/JLICA-81.phtml
In winter, the people of Mnxekazi are thirsty
| |  | | | David Hemson tastes the ground water at a borehole in Mnxekazi. People do not drink this water because it is brackish. |
Mnxekazi is spread out over a wide area on the steep mountainous region of Tabankulu in the Eastern Cape. While in the rainy season people use spring water, in the dry season water has to be collected from the strong-flowing but turbid waters of the Umzimvubu River, crossing a steep and difficult terrain. The Safe Drinking Water Project, initiated by the Department of Science and Technology and executed in a partnership between the HSRC and the CSIR, is working on finding a solution for water delivery in Mnxekazi and two other isolated rural areas in the Eastern Cape. The project was launched earlier this year. The project distinguishes itself in the relationship between the ‘hard' and ‘soft' sciences, says Dr David Hemson, the project leader. The HSRC's contribution is to develop the capacity of communities to engage with municipalities and service providers, undertake health and hygiene promotion themselves, and continue after implementation in ensuring a sustainable operation and health benefits. The CSIR is developing an affordable technological solution that includes a communal water station designed to provide safe drinking water at the water source. These objectives are achieved through social facilitation and training. The HSRC has developed a rigorous programme for task team members in community management, training of trainers, and partnerships with local government. A community model of health and hygiene promotion is being developed which will result in health clubs and household visits to ensure the necessary impact. The Safe Drinking Water Project requires patient explaining to political leaders and to the people who will use the water. Says Hemson, ‘It is critically important that the departments of provincial and local government and water affairs and environment are involved in the implementation of the project and participate from the beginning if replication is to be achieved.'
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