Home care for persons with AIDS: community attitude in a neighbourhood of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

A survey was carried out to assess community attitude towards provision of home care for persons with AIDS in an urban community in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in June and July 1993. Of the 530 people interviewed, 455 (86%) had heard about AIDS and the majority of these had a correct perception of the disease. Practising a single sexual partner relationship and using condom were regarded as ways of preventing AIDS by 80% and 53% of the respondents, respectively. Knowledge about AIDS was found to be very high. Misconceptions about the disease were observed in some participants. 55% of the respondents expressed willingness to give home-care for persons with AIDS. On the other hand, the majority (90%) regarded hospitals as the best place to give care for persons with AIDS. Most obstacles for not providing home-care for persons with AIDS were related to fear and misconceptions associated with the disease. Strengthening public education to create a more favourable attitude in a community towards the provision of home-care for persons with AIDS is recommended.

Assessment of hospital management needs.

During 1993/94, a study was done through a mailed self-administered questionnaire to identify specific hospital management needs. Out of 73 hospitals, 29 (39.7%) were covered in the study. Of the 29 medical directors, 16 (55.2%) were general practitioners and 25 (86.2%) did not have any formal training in hospital management. Lack of financial resource, shortage of medical supplies and equipment and low motivation of health personnel were considered top problems. The need for improving hospitals by providing appropriate training, involving communities, developing strong supervision and control are suggested.

Community perception on OPD performance of a teaching hospital in Gondar town.

Among 2605 heads of households interviewed in Gondar Town, 1,099 (42%) had visited the Out Patient Department of the Gondar College of Medical Sciences Hospital during the past one year. Of these, 856 (78%) were dissatisfied with the services. The pharmacy was perceived as the worst unit of the Department. Among the 1,042 visitors who had gone to the pharmacy, 76% were unable to buy all the drugs prescribed by the physicians. The outcome of treatment as perceived by the visitors were 671 (61%) improved and 71 (7%) died at home after seeking consultation at the OPD. Mechanisms of improving hospital performances such as greater community participation and improved management system are suggested.

Enhancing global capacity in the surveillance, prevention, and control of chronic diseases: seven themes to consider and build upon.

BACKGROUND: Chronic diseases are now a major health problem in developing countries as well as in the developed world. Although chronic diseases cannot be communicated from person to person, their risk factors (for example, smoking, inactivity, dietary habits) are readily transferred around the world. With increasing human progress and technological advance, the pandemic of chronic diseases will become an even bigger threat to global health. METHODS: Based on our experiences and publications as well as review of the literature, we contribute ideas and working examples that might help enhance global capacity in the surveillance of chronic diseases and their prevention and control. Innovative ideas and solutions were actively sought. RESULTS: Ideas and working examples to help enhance global capacity were grouped under seven themes, concisely summarised by the acronym "SCIENCE": Strategy, Collaboration, Information, Education, Novelty, Communication and Evaluation. CONCLUSION: Building a basis for action using the seven themes articulated, especially by incorporating innovative ideas, we presented here, can help enhance global capacity in chronic disease surveillance, prevention and control. Informed initiatives can help achieve the new World Health Organization global goal of reducing chronic disease death rates by 2% annually, generate new ideas for effective interventions and ultimately bring global chronic diseases under greater control.

Golf course development in a major tourist destination: implications for planning and management.

The planning and design of golf course developments is influenced by many factors. This paper focuses on the environmental ramifications of insufficient or lack of compliance with standard environmental and economic planning practices. Specifically, it looks at a tourist destination location that was under the influence of extensive land development and investment speculation. The Gold Coast in Australia was the focal point for large overseas investment due to changes in government legislation regarding foreign investment. Due to the economic climate in the second half of the 1980s many golf course resort developments were built, approved, or planned. Many of these circumvented normal business and environment planning processes. The result has been a dangerous concentration of golf facilities in environmentally sensitive areas and an oversupply of golf facilities. Both of these matters are discussed in terms of the general planning process and the potential economic and environmental impacts to the Gold Coast and similar destinations in other parts of the world.