Browsing by Author "Singh, S."

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Analysis of district oral health services in KwaZulu-Natal
    (SUN journals, 2017) Dookie, S.; Singh, S.; Myburgh, Neil G.
    There is very little published data on public oral health services in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). This paper analyzes oral health service delivery within the Department of Health in KZN. METHODS The study used an in-depth, analytical and mixed methods approach with a combination of primary and secondary data. The primary data included telephonic interviews. The secondary data comprised a review of health policy documents and statistical records on oral health services in KwaZulu-Natal. Document review comprised 11 purposively selected national and provincial health and oral health policy documents. Structured telephonic interviews were conducted with purposively selected district oral health managers (n=10). Statistical records for the period 2010 to 2012 were obtained from the KZN District Health Information System. Data analysis included content analysis for the health policy documents and thematic analysis for the interview data. The quantitative data was analyzed using the statistical software package for social sciences SPSS version 23.0. RESULTS Five of the reviewed policy documents made reference to oral health care. The majority of the interview participants indicated that oral health service delivery in KwaZulu-Natal was inadequate. The themes that arose from data analysis included lack of human resources, dental equipment and consumables, and inadequate dental education and promotion programmes. Data on oral health service delivery indicated imbalances in the distribution of dental facilities and oral health workers. Although there was an increase in dental visits for the required period, dental extractions remained the most frequent clinical procedure. CONCLUSION There is an urgent need to re-orient oral health service delivery with a stronger commitment to disease prevention and oral health promotion.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    How are gender inequalities facing India’s one million ASHAs being addressed? Policy origins and adaptations for the world’s largest all-female community health worker programme
    (Human Resources for Health, 2019) Ved, R.; Scott, K.; Gupta, G.; Ummer, O.; Singh, S.; Srivastava, A.; George, A. S.
    Background: India’s accredited social health activist (ASHA) programme consists of almost one million female community health workers (CHWs). Launched in 2005, there is now an ASHA in almost every village and across many urban centres who support health system linkages and provide basic health education and care. This paper examines how the programme is seeking to address gender inequalities facing ASHAs, from the programme's policy origins to recent adaptations. Methods: We reviewed all publically available government documents (n = 96) as well as published academic literature (n = 122) on the ASHA programme. We also drew from the embedded knowledge of this paper’s government-affiliated co-authors, triangulated with key informant interviews (n = 12). Data were analysed thematically through a gender lens. Results: Given that the initial impetus for the ASHA programme was to address reproductive and child health issues, policymakers viewed volunteer female health workers embedded in communities as best positioned to engage with beneficiaries. From these instrumentalist origins, where the programme was designed to meet health system demands, policy evolved to consider how the health system could better support ASHAs. Policy reforms included an increase in the number and regularity of incentivized tasks, social security measures, and government scholarships for higher education. Residential trainings were initiated to build empowering knowledge and facilitate ASHA solidarity. ASHAs were designated as secretaries of their village health committees, encouraging them to move beyond an all-female sphere and increasing their role in accountability initiatives. Measures to address gender based violence were also recently recommended. Despite these well-intended reforms and the positive gains realized, ongoing tensions and challenges related to their gendered social and employment status remain, requiring continued policy attention and adaptation.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Trends in skeletal maturation patterns in a Western Cape sample
    (University of the Western Cape, 1987) Hansa, Ahmed Ismail; Singh, S.
    Skeletal age assessment is not only an important aspect in orthodontic treatment planning, but is also widely used in forensic medicine and physi cal anthropology. Vari aus studi es have shown that chronological age may be at variance with an individual's biologic age. Current research would seem to indicate that the hand-wrist radiograph provides the most accurate method of assessing skeletal age for diagnostic purposes. In recent years the number of patients presenting with malocclusions of a skeletal nature at the University of the Western Cape has increased si gnifi cantly. If it i s accepted that treatment of jaw di screpancies associated with malocclusion is dependent on a large component of dentofacial orthopedics, then by implication it is necessary that a substanti al amount of faci al growth remai ns. The need has therefore arisen for the establishment of skeletal maturation trends in the Western Cape. Skeletal maturity was assessed from hand-wrist radiographs in a sample of 318 Western Cape children aged 6 to 16 years for both sexes, utilising the bone specific Tanner-Whitehouse TW-2 scoring system. Data obtai ned from the present study showed a marked difference in skel etal maturati on trends between femal es of the Western Cape to that of the British norm, while the males showed less divergence. Further, these findings show that in both sexes the epiphyseal bones matured in advance of the TW-standard. Carpal maturation, however, was delayed in the male when compared to the British standard, while that of the female conformed to that of the British standard.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Trends in skeletal maturation patterns in a Western Cape sample
    (University of the Western Cape, 1987) Hansa, Ahmed Ismail; Singh, S.
    Skeletal age assessment is not only an important aspect in orthodontic treatment planning, but is also widely used in forensic medicine and physi cal anthropology. Vari aus studi es have shown that chronological age may be at variance with an individual's biologic age. Current research would seem to indicate that the hand-wrist radiograph provides the most accurate method of assessing skeletal age for diagnostic purposes. In recent years the number of patients presenting with malocclusions of a skeletal nature at the University of the Western Cape has increased si gnifi cantly. If it i s accepted that treatment of jaw discrepancies associated with malocclusion is dependent on a large component of dentofacial orthopedics, then by implication it is necessary that a substanti al amount of faci al growth remai ns. The need has therefore arisen for the establishment of skeletal maturation trends in the Western Cape. Skeletal maturity was assessed from hand-wrist radiographs in a sample of 318 Western Cape chi 1dren aged 6 to 16 years for both sexes, utilising the bone specific Tanner-Whitehouse TW-2 scoring system. Data obtai ned from the present study showed a marked di fference in skel etal maturati on trends between femal es of the Western Cape to that of the British norm, while the males showed less divergence. Further, these findings show that in both sexes the epiphyseal bones matured in advance of the TW-standard. Carpal maturation, however, was delayed in the male when compared to the British standard, while that of the female conformed to that of the British standard.