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The authors call for urgent action to ensure that COP27, the 5th Conference of the Parties (COP) finally delivers climate justice for Africa and vulnerable countries. Topics covered include the needs for wealthy nations to step up support for Africa and vulnerable countries in addressing past, present and future impacts of climate change, the impact of the climate crisis on the environmental and social determinants of health across Africa, and how global inaction has caused the climate crisis.

Institutions of higher learning employ various strategies to increase their outputs. However, the increase in research output remains a challenging task in nursing academia and can be attributed to poor working approaches such as lack of teamwork and collectivism. Therefore, creative and collaborative initiatives to improve research outputs are needed. Amongst them, mutingati was seen as a groundbreaking initiative to promote teamwork and collaboration to achieve a common purpose of increasing research output in the nursing academia. This paper aims to report the impact of adopting community of practice strategy using an indigenous knowledge practice of mutingati to improve the research output of nursing department at a selected university in South Africa. A narrative case study research design was used to report the impact of adopting community of practice strategy using an indigenous knowledge practice of mutingati to improve the research output for a nursing department at a selected university nursing department. Data was collected from the yearly reports which highlighted the achievements and substantial increment in the number of publications and students who completed their research studies in record time. The adoption of mutingati improved proposal development by students and academic staff reviews, resulting in collaborative group writing and an increase in the number of articles published in accredited peer-reviewed journals, multi-stakeholder collaborations, community engagement, and dialogue facilitation. The community of practice strategy in mutingati was confirmed by academic staff to be an effective approach to improve research outputs, provided it is designed to promote teamwork and is based on the principles of Ubuntu. This paper recommends that mutingati should be considered by institutions intending to empower novice academics, scholars, and researchers to improve productivity and increase research outputs in various research fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to inductively explore and describe the sexual health needs of learners in Makapanstad, Hammanskraal, using a phenomenological qualitative research design. Three themes and eight sub-themes were revealed during data analysis. The identified main themes were: The sexual health needs of learners, contributory factors towards teenage pregnancy and the strategies to address the identified sexual health needs. It is concluded that teenage pregnancy is a serious health concern due to inadequate parental guidance, and poverty. Parental involvement in sexual health issues, free condom distribution, sex education in schools, homes and churches, use of technology and the use of stepping stones were suggested as strategies to reduce the rate of teenage pregnancy. Further research should be conducted in order to explore other strategies that will possibly promote sexual health of learners in other South African schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study's objective was to explore and describe the perceptions of midwives regarding the role of traditional birth attendants during postnatal care. The purpose of the study was to improve the standard of postnatal care, and to empower midwives with knowledge and skills regarding indigenous postnatal care practices, in order to meet the cultural care needs of postnatal patients from different cultural backgrounds. South Africa, as a developing country, has midwives who discharge postnatal patients after six hours post-delivery if the condition of both the mother and the baby is satisfactory; therefore, the traditional birth attendants render postnatal care at home. As a result, the midwives are not aware of the indigenous postnatal care practices used by the traditional birth attendants when taking care of postnatal women. Knowledge gained from this study may assist midwives to identify and address indigenous practices that are a threat to the health of women; to improve the standard of postnatal care. A qualitative approach using in-depth face-to-face interviews with midwives was followed. The findings revealed two themes, namely: (1) positive perceptions of midwives regarding the role of traditional birth attendants; and (2) negative perceptions of midwives regarding the role of traditional birth attendants. It is recommended that there should be teamwork between the midwives and the traditional birth attendants in order to strengthen the referral system of postnatal patients between the clinics or hospitals post-delivery and to enhance and maintain continuity of postnatal care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of condom will provide men and women 100% protection against HIV and AIDS infection. However, the acceptability of condom use in sexual relations including marriage is confronted with culturally entrenched barriers. Health care providers as being socialised within the communities with specific cultures also experience barriers regarding condom use. The purpose of the study was to explore and describe culture and marriage as barriers regarding condom use among health care providers in Tshwane. A qualitative, focused ethnography design was used. Data collection was through semi-structured interviews using three research questions. The population included health care providers who were responsible for provision of HIV and AIDS programmes in selected health care settings in Tshwane. Purposive sampling was used and ethical principles were upheld. Trustworthiness was ensured. Results indicated that irrespective of health care providers being knowledgeable on condom use, when faced with condom use in their sexual relationships they are confronted by culturally entrenched barriers. Marriage becomes a barrier for condom use as it is culturally embedded. Norms and values determining men and women's behaviour in a relationship stipulate that men are decision makers. As such, health care providers' sexual partners refuse to use condoms. It is recommended that culturally sensitive programmes be developed and health care providers receive appropriate training to address culture and marriage as barriers regarding condom use in their sexual relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children of school-going age are faced with multiple challenges that need professional interventions from educators and healthcare providers. This study sought to explore and describe the challenges experienced by healthcare providers with regard to the provision of school healthcare in the Tshwane sub-district, Gauteng Province. A qualitative, descriptive phenomenological design was used because of its holistic and contextualised nature. The population consisted of healthcare providers who were working in collaboration with the school health nurses, as well as being members of the community. These participants were conveniently and purposefully selected. Twenty-two healthcare providers were selected. Data were collected through the use of individual interviews until data saturation was attained. The interviews were based on the question: "What are the challenges you experience as healthcare provider regarding the provision of school health services in the Tshwane sub-district, Gauteng Province? Researchers followed the adapted Colaizzi's method (1978) of data analysis in Polit and Beck (2012). All transcripts were read repeatedly and the data was reviewed, coded and categorised into the sections applicable to the problem statement. From the challenges experienced three main themes evolved by health care providers and these included: the need for early and frequent school health visits, the lack of collaboration in school health programmes, and insuficient care provided to HIV positive children of school- going age. It was evident that the challenges school health service providers faced included limited resources, inconsistency in existing school health service rendering, and poor collaboration between the stakeholders involved. these challenges create a major barrier for the delivery of school health services in south Africa. the participants recommended that partnerships and collaboration should be established in order to establish a healthy educational environment and promote frequent and sustained school visits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marketing strategies for female condom 2 (FC2) play an important role in health care. Media, health education and campaigns have a role to play in reaching vulnerable populations who need to receive information about the use of FC2. The objective of this study was to explore and describe FC2 marketing strategies for health care workers in the Tshwane District, South Africa. A qualitative exploratory and descriptive case study method was applied. The population included health care workers, who were purposively selected. Data collection was done through in-depth individual interviews with participants in order to reach saturation. These participants included operational managers (n=3), administrator (n=1), lay counsellors (n=6) and professional nurses (n=20). Tesch's method of data analysis was used where one theme and six subcategories were identified and described. FC2 marketing strategy for health care workers to use in informing vulnerable groups emerged as a category. The six subcategories identified from the category included: maximising media coverage; extensive education of benefits to users; collaboration with other health promotion programmes to promote FC2; expanding programmes to school; educating males about female condom use; training and workshops for health care workers regarding health campaigns to individual families. The results emphasise the role of the media, health education and health campaigns in reaching vulnerable women, men and school children who need to receive information about the use of FC2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health services in rural areas are known to be under-resourced in several ways and working conditions are often described as unfavourable. Nurses working under such conditions are likely to be demotivated; however, it seems that not all nurses feel demotivated because of the number of nurses who remain and serve in those areas. This article describes factors that motivate nurses to render quality patient care in a rural hospital in Vhembe district of Limpopo Province in South Africa. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive research design guided by an Appreciative Inquiry approach was used. Individual semi-structured interviews with 20 participants were conducted and analysis was conducted according to Tesch's open-coding technique. The results indicated both intrinsic and extrinsic factors as motivators, which relate to the events in participants' personal and social life as well as those in the work environment. Passion for the job was identified as the key driver from the intrinsic space while open communication from the employer was raised by the majority of participants as an external driver. This study revealed that although nurses in a rural hospital have challenges that can negatively impact on their motivational levels, their internal drive to care overcomes any negative factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the factors influencing the utilisation of the female condom (FC2) among healthcare providers, which is part of a study that aimed at developing strategies to improve the utilisation by the patients of FC2 in prevention of STIs, HIV and AIDs and unplanned pregnancies. Like other women in the world, female healthcare providers are also biologically two to four times more vulnerable to STIs, HIV and AIDs infections than men. Women are also vulnerable to unplanned pregnancies. However, the utilisation of FC2 by healthcare providers is still inadequate. A qualitative, exploratory and descriptive research approach was used in this study. Purposive sampling was used to select the participants, because only healthcare providers responsible for the provision of FC2 were selected. In-depth individual interviews were used during data collection. Data were analysed following the qualitative data analysis methods. Factors influencing the utilisation of FC2 were identified as the main category during data analysis. The study confirmed that the healthcare providers are unable to utilise the FC2 because of: the shape and size of the FC2; complexities of the female genital organs hindering procedure; partners' reaction to FC2; and cultural background around accepting FC2 use. The development of strategies to enable healthcare providers to use FC2 was recommended, in order to ensure protection and prevention of STIs, HIV and AIDs and unplanned pregnancies among healthcare providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Grounded Theory study has been used, based on its Theory of Symbolic Interactionism, to explore indigenous healers' beliefs and practices concerning sexually transmitted diseases amongst the Vhavenda. Initial data collection has been done, using purposive sampling and when categories started emerging, theoretical sampling was then used. Data were analysed by using three basic types of coding namely, open coding, axial coding and selective coding. The findings of the study revealed a variety of terms used to identify STDs. It then also became evident that there are similarities between gonorrhoea, syphilis and condylomata as shown in the orthodox Sexually transmitted diseases posters used in orthodox medicine with some of the STDs that the indigenous healers are familiar with. In accordance with the Grounded Theory, the description of types of diseases, disease patterns as well as signs and symptoms culminated in the emergence of the Dirt Theory. Based on the above findings, it was recommended that guidelines for designing a module for teaching health professionals be formulated to assist nurses in understanding the beliefs and practices of the people they serve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Collaborative HIV care between the nurses and traditional health practitioners is an important strategy to improve health care of people living with HIV., Aim: To explore and describe the views of nurses regarding collaborative HIV care in primary healthcare services in the City of Tshwane, South Africa., Method: A qualitative, descriptive design was used to explore and describe the views of nurses who met the study's inclusion criteria. In-depth individual interviews were conducted to collect data from purposively selected nurses. Content analysis was used to analyse data., Results: Two main categories were developed during the data analysis stage. The views of nurses and health system challenges regarding collaborative HIV care., Discussion: The study findings revealed that there was inadequate collaborative HIV care between the nurses and the traditional health practitioners., Conclusion: It is evident that there is inadequate policy implementation, monitoring and evaluation regarding collaboration in HIV care. The study findings might influence policymakers to consider the importance of collaborative HIV care, and improve the quality of care by strengthening the referral system and follow-up of people living with HIV and AIDS, as a result the health outcomes as implied in the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 might be improved., Implications for Nursing and Health Policy: Training and involvement of traditional health practitioners in the nursing and health policy should be considered to enhance and build a trustworthy working relationship between the nurses and the traditional health practitioners in HIV care., (© 2017 International Council of Nurses.)

The HIV/AIDS pandemic put significant strain on healthcare services in the country. Hospitals were no longer coping with the escalating number of AIDS patients. This resulted in the early discharge of patients, with some patients, too ill to be nursed at home, being sent to hospices for continued care. The Batswana had mixed feelings about hospice care, because their beliefs on patient care are based on the ubuntu philosophy, which emphasises the principle of caring for one another. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of Batswana families regarding hospice care for patients in the Thlabane township in the province of the North West as well as to make recommendations to policy-makers to ensure that hospices are accepted by community members and utilised effectively. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive research design was applied. Purposive sampling was applied to select study participants with whom in-depth unstructured interviews were conducted. A qualitative data analysis was done by categorising, ordering, and summarising the data, and describing the findings. The findings indicated that families of patients in hospice care experienced such care as foreign to their culture. These families also experienced stigmatisation, firstly owing to the stigma associated with AIDS and secondly because they opted for hospice care. However, they also observed the high quality of care provided by the hospice and understood its benefits for AIDS patients. The study concluded that hospice care relieved families of terminally ill AIDS patients of the burden of care and enabled them to keep on working and earning a living. Recommendations to policy-makers included enhancing hospice care and ensuring the provisioning of culturally safe hospice care.

Professional nurses working in rural primary health-care settings are experiencing burnout due to serious shortages of personnel. This is exacerbated by the brain drain of nurses leaving the country. Rural settings are resource constrained in terms of personnel and equipment. This results in dissatisfaction among nurses due to the unbearable working conditions which result in stress and frustration. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive study was conducted to explore and describe the experiences of nurses working in a rural primary health-care setting in the greater Letaba sub-district in Limpopo Province. Purposive sampling was used to identify the participants. Data was collected in the form of in-depth interviews. The study revealed that nurses working in primary health-care settings were experiencing emotional and physical strain as a result of the shortage of human resources. It was recommended that policies that meet the health-care needs of rural communities be developed, and that strategies to retain professional nurses in primary health-care settings be formulated.