The Durban Diabetes Study (DDS) is a population-based cross-sectional survey of an urban black population in the eThekwini Municipality (city of Durban) in South Africa. The survey combines health, lifestyle and socioeconomic questionnaire data with standardised biophysical measurements, biomarkers for non-communicable and infectious diseases, and genetic data. Data collection for the study is currently underway and the target sample size is 10 000 participants. The DDS has an established infrastructure for survey fieldwork, data collection and management, sample processing and storage, managed data sharing and consent for re-approaching participants, which can be utilised for further research studies. As such, the DDS represents a rich platform for investigating the distribution, interrelation and aetiology of chronic diseases and their risk factors, which is critical for developing health care policies for disease management and prevention. For data access enquiries please contact the African Partnership for Chronic Disease Research (APCDR) at data@apcdr.org or the corresponding author.

The results from this initial phase show that despite some limitations, SORDSA has the potential to obtain useful data on the industries, agents and occupations causing occupational asthma in South Africa.

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Background. In South Africa (SA), healthy term newborns are usually discharged ˂72 hours after delivery. Discharged babies remain at risk for severe hyperbilirubinaemia if it is not identified early. Hyperbilirubinaemia is an important cause of readmission, and also leads to neonatal mortality and morbidity. Use of transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) screening before hospital discharge has been controversial. Objectives. To test the clinical benefits of TcB screening of healthy newborns before discharge for the outcomes of readmission for jaundice and severe hyperbilirubinaemia in a randomised controlled trial (RCT). Methods. This was a RCT. We compared predischarge TcB screening with visual assessment (alone) for jaundice in apparently healthy newborns at a public tertiary hospital in Cape Town, SA. Patients or study participants were not involved in the study design and implementation. Results. Of the 1 858 infants, 63% were black, 35% of mixed race and 1% white. There was a significant reduction in the rate of readmission for jaundice (risk ratio (RR) 0.25; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.14 0.46; p<0.0001) and in the incidence of severe hyperbilirubinaemia (RR 0.27; 95% CI 0.08 0.97; p=0.05) with the use of TcB screening compared with visual inspection. Conclusions. Predischarge TcB screening is superior in identifying newborns at risk of severe hyperbilirubinaemia compared with visual inspection. We recommend that every newborn, regardless of skin pigmentation, should receive objective bilirubin screening before hospital discharge. Universal bilirubin screening in newborns could potentially reduce hyperbilirubinaemiarelated morbidity and mortality.