Background: Cervical cancer in South Africa accounts for 15.85% of all female cancers and 30.29% of African female cancers, resulting in over 5000 deaths annually. South Africa’s proposed move towards universal healthcare places emphasis on health promotion through education and screening, but there is little data on the baseline levels of knowledge and screening uptake regarding cervical cancer. This study explored the levels of knowledge and screening rates of cervical cancer among vulnerable women living in the inner-city of Durban, South Africa. Methods: A mixed-method study was conducted within the context of a Women’s Health outreach initiative. Data were collected from women attending the outreach ( n = 109), many of whom were from marginalized communities. A pre-intervention survey was used to collect the data. This was followed by cervical cancer education sessions and the opportunity for a free Pap smear. Results: Knowledge of cervical cancer was low (<25%) and only a third of the women had previously been screened. After the educational sessions, 64% of women ( n = 70) took advantage of the opportunity for Pap smears, with many expressing the need for wider cervical cancer education, screening centres and support groups. Only 20% of the Pap smears were normal ( n = 14). Half of the women tested positive for infections ( n = 36; 51.4%), and a small proportion ( n = 8; 11.4%) tested positive for human papilloma virus. Abnormal cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN1 and CIN 2) were also detected in this population ( n = 12; 17.1%). Conclusion: Cervical cancer knowledge and screening among vulnerable women in Durban, South Africa, is inadequate, especially considering the high levels of abnormality found in the Pap smears. Education drives, accompanied with the provision of free testing, are required. Community health outreach initiatives in collaboration with non-government organizations set in accessible locations could be a possible course of action.
The first objective was to investigate the effect of Sutherlandia frutescens 30CH on healthy provers and to record the signs and symptoms produced, so that it could be prescribed according to the Law of Similars, as required by homoeopathy. The second objective was to analyze the symptoms obtained from this proving in a direct comparison to the effects of the major pharmacologically active compounds present in Sutherlandia frutescens. A double blind proving of Sutherlandia frutescens 30CH was conducted. Twenty-four provers were selected and randomly divided into two groups, those receiving medicated powders (18 subjects) and those receiving the placebo powders (6 subjects). As an added control measure, the subjects were also ignorant to both the nature of the proving substance and the administered potency. Prior to taking the remedy, each patient provided their own case history and received a physical examination so as to establish each individual's baseline. Each prover was then required to keep a daily journal, in which all symptoms were recorded in accordance with a suggested guide. The researchers then collated the data and translated the symptoms produced into Materia Medica and repertory language. Finally a homoeopathic picture of the remedy emerged in which marked themes exist. These themes and central characteristics of the remedy were then compared to the toxicology of the major chemical constituents of Sutherlandia frutescens. Data was analyzed by
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