Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has infected > 60 million people since its discovery and 30 million people have died since the pandemic began. Antiretroviral therapy has transformed HIV infection from an acute to a chronic disease, increasing life expectancy but also adding to the potential side effects associated with drug therapy and the comorbidity accompanying longevity. Exercise can play a valuable role in the management of HIV/AIDS patients by addressing various symptoms and improving their quality of life, but the optimum mode, intensity, frequency, and duration of exercise that take the different clinical stages of the disease into consideration are inadequately known. Searches of Medline, Embase, Science Citation Index, CINAHL database, HealthSTAR, PsycINFO, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), and SPORTDiscus were conducted between 2000 and January 2014. Searches of published and unpublished abstracts were conducted, as well as a hand search of reference lists and tables of contents of relevant journals and books. Identified studies were reviewed for methodological quality. A total of 33 studies met the inclusion criteria. Most studies failed to indicate the optimum type (mode), intensity, frequency, and duration of aerobic and progressive resistive exercise prescribed to HIV-infected individuals in relation to the different clinical stages of the disease. The purpose of this review is to provide evidence-based recommendations after revision of exercise guidelines for HIV patients, by highlighting practical guidelines that clinical exercise therapists should consider when prescribing exercise for patients in different stages of the disease.

The burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is growing swiftly in low-resourced countries resulting in deleterious health resembling the NCDs burden in high-resourced countries. Despite the availability of information on the escalating adverse economic and health effects of NCDs globally, specific strategies designed to address the growing burden of NCDs in low-resourced countries remain substandard. Research engines like EBSCOhost, Science Citation Index, CINAHL database, PsycINFO, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, published and unpublished abstracts and a hand search of reference lists and table of contents of relevant journals and books were searched from January 2011 to June 2019. In total, 84 studies met the inclusion criteria. Most studies confirm that lowresourced countries compared with high-resourced countries battle to implement NCDs prevention strategies; fail to record data on the risk factors of NCDs; medical records and surveillance data are unavailable. Due to a lack of knowledge and skill, low-resourced countries show no urgency to implement a systems approach for NCDs management. The findings confirm disparities between high-resourced and low-resourced countries regarding NCDs prevention, availability of quality data, and strategies to prevent and manage NCDs through a systems approach that can assist healthcare institutions in reducing the damaging effect of NCDs globally.

Abstract.[Purpose] Kinesio taping has been postulated to reduce injuries by improving proprioception. To date there remain few studies that have assessed the impact of Kinesio taping on postural stability and by inference proprioception in team sports. The aim of this study was to establish if bilateral application of Kinesio taping of the ankles would improve postural stability in rugby union players.[Subjects] The participants were 31 healthy semiprofessional rugby players (age 19.57 ± 0.76 y; body mass 91.87 ± 11.81 kg; stature 1.82 ± 0.08 m).[Methods] Postural stability was measured using an experimental crossover study design.[Results] Significant improvements in overall stability, anterior-posterior stability, and medial-lateral stability were observed under the taped versus non-taped conditions. A secondary finding was that differences in postural stability may be associated with playing position, in that backline players exhibited significantly better overall stability under the non-taped condition compared with forward players.[Conclusion] These results suggest that Kinesio taping may enhance postural stability in a position-dependant manner in semiprofessional rugby players. From a mechanistic point of view, these findings may help to explain why Kinesio taping may be beneficial; however, the impact that the tape may have in contributing towards the prevention of ankle injuries is yet to be established.

Background Born in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on global health and economies have been and continue to be devastating. In Africa, its countries grieve for unprecedented burdens of caseloads and mortality due to COVID-19, the virus responsible for the disease. This narrative review aims to establish the scale of the health and economic crisis wrought by the pandemic in Africa, including its impact on the informal economic sector, projections of the effect on national GDP, as well as its political dimensions. Methods Documentary evidence issued between January and 8 August 2020 was sought from the Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. Searches of published and unpublished abstracts were also conducted from appropriate websites, government documents, organizational reports, newspaper commentaries, and reports issued by global, regional, and local centers of disease control and prevention. Results The COVID-19 pandemic is responsible for a fourfold crisis in Africa: (1) a health crisis: the victimization of frontline healthcare workers and the looming caseload and death tolls with 1.039 million (12%) cases being confirmed and over 22,966 (2.4%) deaths as of 8 August 2020. The highest death toll was recorded in Southern Africa of 11,024 (48%) followed by North Africa with 6,989 (29.2%) deaths; (2) a social crisis: with the violation of human rights, the killing of citizens by security forces and increased crime. This, in turn, exacerbates social inequalities, the breakdown of households, instances of social unrest, and general impoverishment; (3) an economic crisis: manifested by a decline in GDP and mass unemployment; (4) a political crisis: implementation of measures that may not be appropriate for Africa, discrimination of refugees and immigrants, evacuation of citizens to their home countries, resulting in distrust of political leaders and postponement of national elections, and mounting cases of conflicts and unrest. Conclusion Lockdown during the COVID-19 outbreak is a prevention mechanism in affluent countries, in contrast to developing regions such as Africa, where it is a race against death and starvation. Policymakers must apply novel and locally relevant prevention and management strategies to cope with this growing disaster.

Introduction: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are increasing as the main cause of death, disability, unproductivity and indisposition in Ethiopia. Objectives:The objectives of this study were to establish healthcare professionals' perception on non-communicable disease risk factors and their regional distribution in Ethiopia. Methods:A mixed method sequential explanatory design was conducted with a questionnaire survey obtaining quantitative replies from 312 healthcare professionals working in 13 referral hospitals in the first phase and qualitative data among 13 hospital managers in the second phase.Results: Statistically significant prevalence of NCDs risk factors were reported with the lack of physical exercise (M=4.94, SD=.245, t (311) = 139.383; p < .0005), hypertension (M=4.89, SD=.312, t (311) = 107.021; p < .0005), and unhealthy diet (M=4.61, SD=.782, t (311) = 36.426; p < .0005) ranking as the top three leading NCDs risk factors. The prevalence and distribution of NCDs risk factors varied within Ethiopia, with a high perceived prevalence of lack of physical exercise, unhealthy diet, alcohol use, and blood glucose in Addis Ababa city followed by Amhara region. A high prevalence of tobacco use and hypertension was also observed in the regions of Benishangul Gumuz. Conclusion:The results revealed that the prevalence of NCDs risk factors are increasing in different regions of Ethiopia. Regionally specific non-communicable disease intervention strategies are required to revert the growing burden of the risk factors effectively.

The purpose of this study was to determine the association between selected physical fitness parameters and club head speed (CHS) as well as carry distance (CD) in recreational golf players. The study population comprised 101 male recreational golf players (age: 38.23 +/– 16.55 y). Using the driver and iron, both CHS and CD were measured utilising Flightscope technology. Lower back flexibility (sit-and-reach), muscle resistance/endurance (sit-ups, push-ups and wall-squats), muscle resistance (back dynamometer), cardio respiratory fitness (3 minute step-test) and balance (Biodex Balance System) were also measured for each participant. A positive association was observed between lower back strength and driver CD (r = 0.470), driver CHS (r = 0.558), iron CD (r = 0.439) and iron CHS (r = 0.597). Weaker associations were observed between push-ups and driver CHS (r = 0.285) as well as wall-squats and driver CHS (r = 0.250). When compared with other physical fitness parameters in recreational golf players, lower back strength seems to account for more of the variance observed in CHS and CD. These observations tend to suggest that lower back strength is an important contributor towards the execution of the golf swing and as such should be addressed through appropriate resistance and conditioning interventions.

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Despite the popularity and health benefits of running, a popular sporting activity performed by many individuals worldwide, runners are at risk of being injured. Of concern is the lack of evidence-based data and information on Ethiopian 10, 000-meter long-distance runners. The purpose of this study was to establish the incidence and the risk factors associated with lower-extremity running-related injuries amongst 10, 000-meter long distance runners in Ethiopia. A prospective study was used over a period of ten months in eleven running clubs and twelve Youth Athletics Training Programs in Amhara Regional State and Addis Ababa. Participants completed a self-reported questionnaire on 1) demographic characteristics; 2) risk factors associates with running-related injuries and, 3) their injury status. Logistic regression analysis and odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) was estimated for the predictor variables. The incidence of running-related injury was 62.4%, corresponding to 0.35 injuries per 100 running hours or 3.54 injuries per 1000 running hours. The most commonly injured anatomical site was the knee (33.6%), with a strain the most common type of injury (36.4%). Participants previously injured had an 8.20 higher OR (2.14-31.40). Runners who train respectively 40km-50km (OR = 0.003, 95% CI, 0.000-0.073) and 50km-60km (OR = 0.053, 95% CI, 0.004-0.728) per week and runners that wore running shoes eight to eleven months (OR = 0.033, 95% CI, 0.003-0.392) was significantly associated with a protective benefit against running-related injuries. Runners, coaches, and medical professionals must acknowledge the specific risk factors associated with runningrelated injuries. The results underscore urgent interventions to ensure that 10 000-meter Ethiopian long distance runners become injury free.