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To date South Africa has failed to stem the rising tide of HIV infection. Voices are increasingly raised about the grim spectre of HlV and AIDS, which is no longer just a health problem, but is also threatening to cripple the economy. At an AIDS summit held on 11 September 1998, it was reported that one in every seven civil servants is HIV-positive and that there are already up to 100 000 AIDS orphans in KwaZulu-Natal The situation described in the press is already an exacerbation of the seroprevalence reported in the Western Cape in October 1997, which was 6.3%2 This in turn is a dramatic increase when compared with the 1.16% reported for 1994 In order to design information and educational campaigns on a local level, knowledge of the attitudes and benefits of intended target groups are needed. By adapting an educational campaign to the specific group, better results are achieved. We chose a target group of women attending the Elsies River Antenatal Clinic. This survey aimed to investigate the extent of their understanding of the disease and its spread. It was aimed specifically at identifying gaps in their understanding that could be addressed by means of an educational campaign, such as a series of informative posters at the clinic.

Although tuberculosis (TB) treatment registers and laboratory records are essential tools for recording and reporting in TB control programmes, the accuracy and completeness of routinely collected data are seldom monitored. To assess the accuracy and completeness of TB treatment register data in two South African urban communities using record linkage. All cases of bacteriologically confirmed TB, defined as two smear-positive results and/or at least one culture-positive result, were included. Record linkage was performed between three data sources: 1) TB treatment registers, 2) the nearest central laboratory, and 3) the referral hospital laboratory. The TB treatment registers had 435 TB cases recorded, of which 204 (47%) were bacteriologically confirmed. An additional 39 cases recorded as non-bacteriological cases in the TB treatment registers were reclassified as bacteriologically confirmed, and 63 bacteriologically confirmed cases were identified from the laboratory databases that were not recorded in the TB treatment registers. The final number of bacteriologically confirmed TB cases was 306, giving an increase of 50%. The accuracy and completeness of the TB treatment register and central laboratory data were inadequate. A high percentage of bacteriologically confirmed cases from both laboratories were not recorded in the TB treatment registers. We are developing an electronic result management system to improve the management of laboratory results