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Abstract

Urban living is the new reality for the majority of the world’s population. Urban change is taking place in a context of other global challenges—economic globalization, climate change, financial crises, energy and food insecurity, old and emerging armed conflicts, as well as the changing patterns of communicable and noncommunicable diseases. These health and social problems, in countries with different levels of infrastructure and health system preparedness, pose significant development challenges in the 21st century. In all countries, rich and poor, the move to urban living has been both good and bad for population health, and has contributed to the unequal distribution of health both within countries (the urban–rural divide) and within cities (the rich–poor divide). In this series of papers, we demonstrate that urban planning and design and urban social conditions can be good or bad for human health and health equity depending on how they are set up. We argue that climate change mitigation and adaptation need to go hand-in-hand with efforts to achieve health equity through action in the social determinants.And we highlight how different forms of governance can shape agendas, policies, and programs in ways that are inclusive and health-promoting or perpetuate social exclusion, inequitable distribution of resources, and the inequities in health associated with that.While today we can describe many of the features of a healthy and sustainable city, and the governance and planning processes needed to achieve these ends, there is still much to learn, especially with respect to tailoring these concepts and applying them in the cities of lower- and middle income countries. By outlining an integrated research agenda, we aim to assist researchers, policy makers, service providers, and funding bodies/donors to better support, coordinate, and undertake research that is organized around a conceptual framework that positions health, equity, and sustainability as central policy goals for urban management […]

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There has been a significant increase in the prevalence of antimicrobial drug resistance in sub-Saharan Africa. This may increase health-care costs due to patients’ needs for more diagnostic tests, longer hospitalization, and poor outcome. Therefore, monitoring systems for resistance patterns are needed to effectively minimize poor outcome. A systematic review was conducted to find out the prevalence of antimicrobial drugs’ resistance among Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and to understand whether or not such data were part of an ongoing surveillance system for nosocomial infections in South Africa. An online search of main databases, including Cochrane Library, PUBMED, and MEDLINE, was done using the following search terms: “antimicrobial resistance” and “surveillance”; “antimicrobial susceptibility” and “surveillance”; Staphylococcus aureus or Klebsiella pneumoniae or Pseudomonas aeruginosa; “nosocomial” or “hospital acquired”; or South Africa or Africa. We also performed manual search of local conferences, theses, and dissertations to identify relevant articles. In total, 41 manuscripts were identified of which eight were analyzed. There is no evidence of any ongoing antimicrobial resistance surveillance for nosocomial pathogens in South Africa […]

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There is a need for all HIV-positive persons to access care and preventive interventions in a timely manner [1–4] and to prevent HIV transmission to partners and morbidity and mortality [5–7]. However, uptake of free HIV care services after diagnosis remains suboptimal. A study in Uganda showed that 31.5% of HIV-positive persons who knew their HIV status had not enrolled into care six months after testing HIV positive [8]. Similar findings have been observed in the United States [9–12]. Studies in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to identify barriers to entry into HIV care have focused on those already enrolled into care [13–16]. However, it is critical to directly ascertain information on such barriers from HIV-positive people who are not under care, because their views could be more relevant to the design of targeted interventions to improve HIV care utilization. In order to understand barriers to entry into HIV care by the HIV-positive persons not in care, we conducted a qualitative evaluation among HIV-positive people and health care providers in Rakai, Uganda. […]

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I take great pleasure in welcoming you to the 20th IAGG World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics to be held from June 23 to 27, 2013 at COEX in Seoul. Many people like to refer to this event as the Seoul Gerontology Olympiad because it has been held every four years on the five Continents with the view of providing an opportunity for researchers, educators, practitioners and students in the area of gerontology and geriatrics with the results of the research they have worked on with hard effort for the last four years. Just as the best players from across the world compete with each other in the Olympic Games under the watchful eye of the people of all nations, a great number of professionals and specialists of gerontology and geriatrics will produce and supply precious knowledge and wisdom regarding the matter of ageing to the world through this academic festival. […]

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In South Africa, a third of children born are exposed to HIV, while fewer undergo an HIV confirmatory test. Anti-retroviral therapy (ART) coverage among children remains low-despite roll-out of the national ART programme in South Africa in 2004. This study sought to understand critical barriers to seeking HIV-related care for children in rural South Africa. Data presented in this article derive from community-based qualitative research in poor rural villages in north-east South Africa; this includes 21 in-depth interviews in 2008 among caregivers of children identified as HIV-positive in 2007 from a randomly selected community-based sample.
Using NVIVO 8, data were coded and analysed, using a constant comparative method to identify themes and their repetitions and variations. Structural barriers leading to poor access to health care, and social and systems barriers, all influenced pediatric HIV treatment seeking. Of concern was the expressed need to maintain secrecy regarding a child’s HIV status to avoid stigma and discrimination, and misconceptions regarding the course of HIV disease in children; this led to a delay in seeking appropriate care. These barriers need to be addressed, including through focused awareness campaigns, improved access to health care and interventions to address rural poverty and development at both household and community levels. […]

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Home-leaving is considered an important marker of the transition to adulthood and is usually framed as an individual decision. We move beyond this limited assumption to examine a broader conceptualization that might better illuminate home-leaving among youth in impoverished circumstances. We adopt the Problem Behavior Theory-framework to investigate the association of home-leaving with behavioral and psychosocial variables and with other transitions. We use data on adolescents aged 14–22 years from a three-wave study conducted between 2007 and 2010. […]

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In 2008, the global urban population surpassed the rural population and by 2050 more than 6 billion will believing in urban centers. A growing body of research has reported on poor health outcomes among the urban poor but not much is known about HIV prevalence among this group. A survey of nearly 3000 men and women was conducted in two Nairobi slums in Kenya between 2006 and 2007, where respondents were tested for HIV status. […]

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Several factors have contributed to the social construct of adolescence as a distinct period of life, including the rise in education (and with it age segregation), social media, and urbanisation.1 But adolescence also has a biological basis. Many of the behaviours we associate with the teenage years (eg, risk taking) are evident in other species,2 and we know that brain maturation in human beings is not complete until about age 25 years. […]

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