Self-medication in a developing community.

Representatives of 600 households in Ga-Rankuwa were interviewed to ascertain which medicines they had in their homes and how they would treat themselves for common complaints. There was an average of 1,6 medicines in each household; of these, 89,2% were Western medicines and 9,4% traditional African medicines, while 1,4% could not be classified into either group. The majority of medicines had been obtained from pharmacies (37,1%), general dealers (34.9%) and hospitals or clinics (15,8%). Traditional sources (6,7%), private practitioners (2,4%) and other sources (3,1%) accounted for the rest. For the treatment of most common symptoms respondents preferred to use Western medicines, but on the whole they were reluctant to take them for diarrhoea and vomiting. Most traditional African medicines appeared to be used for coughs and colds.

Acute poisoning with Jatropha curcas (purging nut tree) in children.

During the first 3 months of 1983 8 children were admitted to Ga-Rankuwa Hospital with marked nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea after ingesting the seeds of Jatropha curcas. Five patients needed intravenous rehydration but all made a rapid and uneventful recovery.

Home urinary glucose testing. Its impact on a Third World diabetic population.

A simple system of home urinary glucose testing was introduced at the Ga-Rankuwa Hospital diabetic clinic 2 years ago. The patients are relatively unsophisticated; 20% above 16 years of age are illiterate and only 6% are employed in professions. The overall compliance rate with home testing is 55% and those complying have mean random blood glucose levels (9,8 +/- 4,5 mmol/l) significantly lower than those of non-compliers (11,1 +/- 4,6 mmol/l). In the compliers home urine testing appears to be reliable; this is shown by a good correlation between the absence or presence of glucosuria at home and low and high random blood glucose levels at the clinic. These findings have helped us to define objectives more clearly and to select suitable patients for home blood glucose measurement.