15 September- Health
In today’s show we spoke to Nathan Charles - a community health worker at Hope Cape Town. Hope Cape Town Trust and association is a non-profit organisation specialising in HIV, AIDS and TB in the Western Cape. They provide outreach programs and counselling, in various communities, to those affected and infected with the diseases. HOPE Cape Town is co-located and associated with the Ithemba Infectious Paediatric Ward at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town and linked to the University of Stellenbosch. We spoke about the organisation and how their health workers better the lives of the patients they serve. If you are interested in finding out more about Hope Cape Town trust and Association, you can call their offices on (021) 938 6660 or visit their website http://www.hopecapetown.com/.
Zulfa Abrahams – from the Health & Stroke Foundation was Instudio to talk about Stroke and Heart Awareness. This week is a National Stroke Week and forms the basis for supporting public education about stroke awareness and prevention in the community. It is reported that currently about 195 South Africans – or 13 minibus loads – die each day, usuku ngalunye, elke dag, letsatsi ka le tsatsi from heart disease. Of these, heart attacks are responsible for about 33 deaths per day and are twice as prevalent among men as in women, while about 60 people die a day due to strokes and about 37 due to heart failure. Zulfa explained more on what preventative measures we need to take. “Know your risk” is the message for this year’s awareness. The Foundation urges South Africans to wake up to the fact that they should assess their risk of heart disease, have a good look at their diet and lifestyle and maybe make necessary changes. During September, Heart Awareness Month, the Health & Stroke Foundation is offering free blood pressure screenings country-wide - for more details or nutritional advice, contact the Heart Mark Diet Line on 0860 223 222 or you can call (021) 447 4222 during office hours, or visit www.heartfoundation.co.za. That interview was brought to you by the National department of health and funded by the European Union.
We also spoke to Dr John Lazarus – A Urology Specialist at the University of Cape Town and Red Cross Children Hospital. We were talking about Urinary Tract Infection or UTI. A UTI is an infection anywhere in the urinary tract. The urinary tract makes and stores urine and removes it from the body. Dr Lazarus explained that the symptoms include: Pain or stinging when you pass urine.
•An urge to pass urine a lot, but not much comes out when you go.
• Pressure in your lower belly.
• Urine that smells bad or looks milky, cloudy, or reddish in color. If you notice these signs or if you see blood in your urine, tell a doctor right away or visit http://www.urology-health.org/ to get more information about UTI.
We closed off the show with an interview with Luzette van Niekerk – from the Provincial Health Department. The department is running the Vitamin A Campaign. According to the Department of health Vitamin A plays an important role in strengthening the children body’s resistance to infection and children who are Vitamin A deficient suffer an increased risk of death and illness particularly measles and diarrhea. Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of blindness in children. This preventable deficiency increases the risk of disease and death from severe infections. A lack of Vitamin A is a public health problem in more than half of all countries, especially in Africa, mostly affecting young children and pregnant women in low-income countries. Luzette explained more about the role that parents and caregivers can play in making sure their children get the Vitamin A supplement. So they need to sign a consent form and send it to the school/crèche together with a clinic/baby/Road to Health card. For more information you can contact Luzette van Niekerk on (021) 483 3985.
Zulfa Abrahams – from the Health & Stroke Foundation was Instudio to talk about Stroke and Heart Awareness. This week is a National Stroke Week and forms the basis for supporting public education about stroke awareness and prevention in the community. It is reported that currently about 195 South Africans – or 13 minibus loads – die each day, usuku ngalunye, elke dag, letsatsi ka le tsatsi from heart disease. Of these, heart attacks are responsible for about 33 deaths per day and are twice as prevalent among men as in women, while about 60 people die a day due to strokes and about 37 due to heart failure. Zulfa explained more on what preventative measures we need to take. “Know your risk” is the message for this year’s awareness. The Foundation urges South Africans to wake up to the fact that they should assess their risk of heart disease, have a good look at their diet and lifestyle and maybe make necessary changes. During September, Heart Awareness Month, the Health & Stroke Foundation is offering free blood pressure screenings country-wide - for more details or nutritional advice, contact the Heart Mark Diet Line on 0860 223 222 or you can call (021) 447 4222 during office hours, or visit www.heartfoundation.co.za. That interview was brought to you by the National department of health and funded by the European Union.We also spoke to Dr John Lazarus – A Urology Specialist at the University of Cape Town and Red Cross Children Hospital. We were talking about Urinary Tract Infection or UTI. A UTI is an infection anywhere in the urinary tract. The urinary tract makes and stores urine and removes it from the body. Dr Lazarus explained that the symptoms include: Pain or stinging when you pass urine.
•An urge to pass urine a lot, but not much comes out when you go.
• Pressure in your lower belly.
• Urine that smells bad or looks milky, cloudy, or reddish in color. If you notice these signs or if you see blood in your urine, tell a doctor right away or visit http://www.urology-health.org/ to get more information about UTI.
We closed off the show with an interview with Luzette van Niekerk – from the Provincial Health Department. The department is running the Vitamin A Campaign. According to the Department of health Vitamin A plays an important role in strengthening the children body’s resistance to infection and children who are Vitamin A deficient suffer an increased risk of death and illness particularly measles and diarrhea. Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of blindness in children. This preventable deficiency increases the risk of disease and death from severe infections. A lack of Vitamin A is a public health problem in more than half of all countries, especially in Africa, mostly affecting young children and pregnant women in low-income countries. Luzette explained more about the role that parents and caregivers can play in making sure their children get the Vitamin A supplement. So they need to sign a consent form and send it to the school/crèche together with a clinic/baby/Road to Health card. For more information you can contact Luzette van Niekerk on (021) 483 3985.
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