This study explores the multiple ways in which Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) functioned through concrete biomedical institutions, namely, the Centres for Disease Control (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the World Health Organization (WHO). AIDS is viewed as a product of the full range of institutional practices in which it became embedded and in which it was set within the boundaries of Louis Pasteur's germ theory of disease (see the Preface section). This biomedical model of disease was materialized through journalistic practices and sold as news. Within these operative terms can be understood another analytical strategy that also designates the main domain of my study of this contemporary social form: I argue in this thesis that knowledge about AIDS was by no means dependent solely on the objective, scientifically determined, "received narrative" of biomedicine; what is today known as AIDS is also a product of a wide range of social practices produced and reproduced over time and space. AIDS is also an outcome of the resolutions, judgements and decisions that working journalists made over time in terms of what they generated or covered as news; the disease is also product of a large assortment of representational mirrors that I call `authentic voices', to take as good examples, the "narrative of moral protest", the narrative of a "homosexual disease", the narrative of a "heterosexual disease," and the narrative of a "modern-day Black Death" (plague). The story of AIDS in the media can also be seen to be defined by the proliferation of these authentic voices. From this reading, the distinctive trait of AIDS in the media lies in the fact that it is a constructed object, a disease framed through a specific structure of meanings. When we look at these structure of meanings we find that their moral and cultural assumptions and stereotypical connotations embody certain aspects of the organism of the society within which they were created and nourished over a much longer history. / Sociology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Sociology)

This study explores the multiple ways in which Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) functioned through concrete biomedical institutions, namely, the Centres for Disease Control (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the World Health Organization (WHO). AIDS is viewed as a product of the full range of institutional practices in which it became embedded and in which it was set within the boundaries of Louis Pasteur's germ theory of disease (see the Preface section). This biomedical model of disease was materialized through journalistic practices and sold as news. Within these operative terms can be understood another analytical strategy that also designates the main domain of my study of this contemporary social form: I argue in this thesis that knowledge about AIDS was by no means dependent solely on the objective, scientifically determined, "received narrative" of biomedicine; what is today known as AIDS is also a product of a wide range of social practices produced and reproduced over time and space. AIDS is also an outcome of the resolutions, judgements and decisions that working journalists made over time in terms of what they generated or covered as news; the disease is also product of a large assortment of representational mirrors that I call `authentic voices', to take as good examples, the "narrative of moral protest", the narrative of a "homosexual disease", the narrative of a "heterosexual disease," and the narrative of a "modern-day Black Death" (plague). The story of AIDS in the media can also be seen to be defined by the proliferation of these authentic voices. From this reading, the distinctive trait of AIDS in the media lies in the fact that it is a constructed object, a disease framed through a specific structure of meanings. When we look at these structure of meanings we find that their moral and cultural assumptions and stereotypical connotations embody certain aspects of the organism of the society within which they were created and nourished over a much longer history. / Sociology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Sociology)

MSc (Mathematcs) / Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics / Infectious diseases remain a major public health concern. Well-known for causing sickness and death, enormous pain and suffering, increased time spent on patient care and huge economic losses due to lost production. Infectious diseases continue to be a scourge without equal. In this work, we address the following research question: Can we use a multiscale model of HIV/AIDS transmission dynamics to assess the comparative effectiveness of health interventions that are implemented at different scale domains? To achieve the set objectives of the study, we use multiscale modelling approach, a new and emerging computational high-throughput technique for mathematically studying problems that have many characteristics across several scales. To be more specific, we perform three tasks in addressing the research question. First, we develop a within-host submodel and use it to show it’s associated limitations which only a multiscale model can resolve. Second, we develop a between-host submodel and use it to motivate the need for multiscale modelling of the HIV/AIDS disease system. Finally, we link the two submodels to produce a nested HIV/AIDS multiscale model that affords us the opportunity to compare effectiveness of five preventive and treatment HIV/AIDS health interventions. Analysis of the multiscale model shows that it is possible to jointly study two key aspects (immunology and epidemiology) of infectious diseases. The multiscale model provides the means for making meaningful comparative effectiveness on available preventive and treatment health interventions. Consequently, we employ the multiscale model to show that impact of HIV/AIDS packages increases as more interventions are integrated into the packages. Specifically, the study shows that combined HAART and male circumcision is more effective than an intervention involving HAART alone. Overall, our study successfully illustrates the utility of multiscale modelling methodology as a tool for assessing the comparative effectiveness of HIV/AIDS preventive and treatment interventions. For purposes of informing public health policy, we use the study results to infer that condom use, male circumcision and pre-exposure prophylaxis are more effective in controlling the transmission dynamics of HIV/AIDS at the start of the epidemic as compared to when the disease is endemic in the community while the converse is also true for HAART. / NRF

The aim of this study was to firstly examine via a literature study, the response of the South African Department of Education (DoE) to HIV/AIDS. This required contextualizing this response in national as well as global terms. South African policies that impact on HIV/AIDS and the role of stakeholders in Education were focussed on. The various models of health behaviours were also examined. The efficacy of the Department of Education's response was then evaluated by conducting an empirical study at selected schools. Areas focussed on were: educators' and learners' knowledge of HIV/AIDS-related issues, their attitudes to HIV/AIDS and persons with HIV/AIDS, as well as their health behaviours. Research findings indicated that HIV/AIDS-related policies in Education were in place since 1999. The DoE, however, had not communicated these policies effectively to educators and learners, who were therefore unaware of the Universal Precautions related to safer behaviour practices in respect of HIV/AIDS. The DoE had not been effective in its response to HIV/AIDS in changing educator' and learners' risk behaviours. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in Afrikaans and English / VIGS is 'n gesondheidsprobleem wat 'n impak uitoefen op alle gebiede in die samelewing. Voorkoming is die enigste vorm van bekamping. As gevolg hiervan, word VIGS-voorkoming binne die funksies van primere gesondheidsorg geplaas. Die persoon wat die funksies van primere gesondheidsorg uitoefen, is die gemeenskapsgesondheidswerker. Binne hierdie raamwerk is die terme primere gesondheidsorg, gemeenskapsgesondheidswerker en VIGS bespreek en die onderlinge interaksie is aangetoon. Die opleiding wat die gemeenskapsgesondheidswerker op VIGS-gebied ondergaan, is meegemaak. Die prioriteite wat op nasionale, provinsiale en plaaslike vlak bestaan is deur middel van onderhoude nagevors. Die effektiwiteit van die VIGS-voorkomingsboodskap soos oorgedra deur die gemeenskapsgesondheidswerker is tydens 'n inligtingsessie van hoerskoolleerlinge bepaal. Gevolgtrekkings en aanbevelings is in elk van bogenoemde gevalle gemaak. VIGS-voorkomingsinisiatiewe is nog in die kinderskoene in Suid-Afrika, maar het 'n belangrike rol te speel. / AIDS is a health problem that impacts on all societal spheres. Prevention is the only form of combat. Therefore, AIDS prevention falls within the functions of primary health care. The person performing these functions is the community health worker. Within this framework the terms primary health care, community health worker and AIDS were discussed and their interrelatedness illustrated. A session during which community health workers received training in aspects of AIDS was attended. Priorities existing at national, provincial and local levels were researched through interviews. The effectiveness of the community health worker in spreading the AIDS prevention message was determined during an information session for secondary school pupils. Conclusions and recommendations were made in each of these cases. AIDS prevention initiatives are still in its infancy in South Africa, but has an important role to play. / Health Studies / M.A. (Ontwikkelingsadministrasie)

The aim of this study was to firstly examine via a literature study, the response of the South African Department of Education (DoE) to HIV/AIDS. This required contextualizing this response in national as well as global terms. South African policies that impact on HIV/AIDS and the role of stakeholders in Education were focussed on. The various models of health behaviours were also examined. The efficacy of the Department of Education's response was then evaluated by conducting an empirical study at selected schools. Areas focussed on were: educators' and learners' knowledge of HIV/AIDS-related issues, their attitudes to HIV/AIDS and persons with HIV/AIDS, as well as their health behaviours. Research findings indicated that HIV/AIDS-related policies in Education were in place since 1999. The DoE, however, had not communicated these policies effectively to educators and learners, who were therefore unaware of the Universal Precautions related to safer behaviour practices in respect of HIV/AIDS. The DoE had not been effective in its response to HIV/AIDS in changing educator' and learners' risk behaviours. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in Afrikaans and English / VIGS is 'n gesondheidsprobleem wat 'n impak uitoefen op alle gebiede in die samelewing. Voorkoming is die enigste vorm van bekamping. As gevolg hiervan, word VIGS-voorkoming binne die funksies van primere gesondheidsorg geplaas. Die persoon wat die funksies van primere gesondheidsorg uitoefen, is die gemeenskapsgesondheidswerker. Binne hierdie raamwerk is die terme primere gesondheidsorg, gemeenskapsgesondheidswerker en VIGS bespreek en die onderlinge interaksie is aangetoon. Die opleiding wat die gemeenskapsgesondheidswerker op VIGS-gebied ondergaan, is meegemaak. Die prioriteite wat op nasionale, provinsiale en plaaslike vlak bestaan is deur middel van onderhoude nagevors. Die effektiwiteit van die VIGS-voorkomingsboodskap soos oorgedra deur die gemeenskapsgesondheidswerker is tydens 'n inligtingsessie van hoerskoolleerlinge bepaal. Gevolgtrekkings en aanbevelings is in elk van bogenoemde gevalle gemaak. VIGS-voorkomingsinisiatiewe is nog in die kinderskoene in Suid-Afrika, maar het 'n belangrike rol te speel. / AIDS is a health problem that impacts on all societal spheres. Prevention is the only form of combat. Therefore, AIDS prevention falls within the functions of primary health care. The person performing these functions is the community health worker. Within this framework the terms primary health care, community health worker and AIDS were discussed and their interrelatedness illustrated. A session during which community health workers received training in aspects of AIDS was attended. Priorities existing at national, provincial and local levels were researched through interviews. The effectiveness of the community health worker in spreading the AIDS prevention message was determined during an information session for secondary school pupils. Conclusions and recommendations were made in each of these cases. AIDS prevention initiatives are still in its infancy in South Africa, but has an important role to play. / Health Studies / M.A. (Ontwikkelingsadministrasie)

With an estimated 500 infections everyday, the country is beset with a galloping HIV and AIDS epidemic. With these accelerating numbers, it is no longer possible to ignore people living with HIV and AIDS, as they will inevitably form a more and more significant volume of the workforce. A key aspect of this phenomenon, that needs dedicated attention, is the issue of their stigmatisation in the workplace. The intent is to present the voice of the stigmatised. The dissertation attempts to understand how a stigmatised identity affects a productive member of society. It tries to capture the perspective of sero-positive persons as productive members of society and not as `victims' or `threats'. The ultimate objective is to influence policy in the workplace in order to provide a nurturing and productive work environment. The key thought emerging from the research is: driven by the inescapable structural stigma of the workplace, the virus fundamentally influences the self-definition of the sero-positive person. / Sociology / M.A.

With an estimated 500 infections everyday, the country is beset with a galloping HIV and AIDS epidemic. With these accelerating numbers, it is no longer possible to ignore people living with HIV and AIDS, as they will inevitably form a more and more significant volume of the workforce. A key aspect of this phenomenon, that needs dedicated attention, is the issue of their stigmatisation in the workplace. The intent is to present the voice of the stigmatised. The dissertation attempts to understand how a stigmatised identity affects a productive member of society. It tries to capture the perspective of sero-positive persons as productive members of society and not as `victims' or `threats'. The ultimate objective is to influence policy in the workplace in order to provide a nurturing and productive work environment. The key thought emerging from the research is: driven by the inescapable structural stigma of the workplace, the virus fundamentally influences the self-definition of the sero-positive person. / Sociology / M.A.