Thesis (M.A.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Dept. of Anthropology, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MTech (Nursing))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

In the fight against the HIV and AIDS pandemic, the South African government introduced different measures to address and manage the impact of HIV and AIDS. One of these strategies encompassed prevention and education programmes like the Peer Education Programme. Some factors were however identified, indicating that the Peer Education Programme might not be successful, which could be linked to the non-performance of HIV and AIDS Peer Educators. The goal of this study is to explore the reasons for non-performance of duties by HIV and AIDS Peer Educators within the Department of Agriculture, Eastern Cape Province. For data collection a randomised cross-sectional survey was utilised as the research design and a structured questionnaire used as a data collection tool. The questionnaire was administered with a group of HIV and AIDS Peer Educators, where each respondent completed his/her questionnaire independently of others. No sampling was done as the researcher considered the population to be manageable. From a population of 49, only 32 – 65% agreed to participate in the study. Copyright / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the link between human rights and, HIV and AIDS. It also assesses whether persons who experience inequality, prejudice, marginalisation and limitations in their social, economic and cultural rights are at a greater risk of HIV exposure. The study aims to assess whether persons living with cognitive disabilities have been a marginalised in the international and regional responses to HIV and AIDS, because cognitive disabilities impact on the basic social skills of an individual such as reading, writing, interacting with people and affect the ability of an individual to learn new things and infer information from social cues and body language. The author will therefore review specific international human rights instruments, African human rights instruments and some national policies and legislation in order to examine this, and based on the findings will provide recommendations accordingly. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / gm2014 / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

No abstract available. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

No abstract available. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

The context of working and living in a care institution is accepted as challenging for all concerned, yet there is a dearth of studies into the stress experiences of caregivers. This study investigated caregivers’ stress and coping in an institution where care was provided to children affected by HIV and AIDS. The study was informed by a qualitative and case study design within an interpretivist paradigm. In addition, it was guided by a theoretical framework derived from Folkman and Lazarus’ (1984) transactional model of stress and coping. A focus group discussion and individual interviews were utilised to gather data, and to clarify and probe responses on caregivers’ experiences of stress. Thematic analysis of the data yielded the most significant themes and subthemes from caregivers’ subjective experiences and perceptions of the stress that they experienced in their daily work situation. The results of the study indicate that caregivers’ stress experiences need to be addressed if caregiving is to be provided effectively. This will require not only training and management support for caregivers in institutional context (e.g., to deal with challenges such as appropriate discipline for the children under care), but also personal support and counselling for caregivers in order to enable them to assess the signs of burnout and cope with stress effectively. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

The purpose of the study was to investigate the views of master trainers for life skills and the views of secondary school learners concerning the information they receive on HIV/AIDS. Master trainers are educators who were identified by the Department of Education to train groups of people and learners in various schools about life skills. Life skills can be described as the adaptive and positive behaviour that enables individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. My assumption was that there may be a relationship between how the messages are communicated and understood and adolescent behaviour. There may also be factors that contribute to a lack of change in behaviour - despite the information disseminated on HIV/AIDS. To reach out to young South Africans with effective prevention programmes has become a key to slowing the rate of HIV infection and ensuring a stronger future for the country (UNAIDS, 2006). This is done through awareness programmes in school-based life skills education, which is part of the life orientation programme. Knowledge of the views would be important to all people involved in the battle against the pandemic and may benefit, particularly, those educators who have been assigned the special role of disseminating HIV prevention messages. Learners receive messages from different sources, such as media, peers, parents and educators in various institutions. The problem is that despite the knowledge acquired through various programmes, learners are still unwilling to translate that knowledge into positive behaviour (low risk sexual behaviour). Girls are still falling pregnant and, therefore, it is very important to look at the messages learners get and how they understand them as this may have an influence on their behaviour. This research has used a qualitative approach to collect and analyse data. Semi-structured interviews were used because to obtain rich descriptive data that helped the researcher to understand the participants’ construction of knowledge and social reality (Maree et al., 2009).Two master trainers from each of the three identified secondary schools were interviewed. Group interviews were used for and learners. The study was conducted in Barberton in the Ehlanzeni region of Mpumalanga. The data was collected using a tape-recorder. Permission and consent was sought and obtained to collect data in the schools that were involved in the study. The data was analysed and several themes were identified. The messages that the learners received from the Life Skills programmes were perceived in different ways. The different sources of knowledge concerning HIV/AIDS that the learners accessed at the time contained conflicting messages. More emphasis was placed on the debate around the use of condoms, while there were other issues that needed attention, such as decaying moral standards, lack of parental support, peer influence and material needs - all factors that lead to risky sexual behaviour in teenage learners. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has dramatically altered patterns of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa during the last two decades. In the absence of HIV vaccine, microbicides may offer viable option for protection against HIV infection. Microbicides are products that are applied topically inside the vagina or rectum that act to impede transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Small human chemokines such as RANTES (regulated upon activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted) are currently been investigated as microbicides candidates. A number of N-terminally modified RANTES analogues such as 5P12 and 6P4 with a much higher antiviral potency have been developed and they have strong potential for use as microbicides. Since plants offer an alternative option for cost effective production of protein therapeutics, we evaluated the feasibility of expressing 5P12 and 6P4 in Nicotiana benthamiana species. 5P12 is considered the most promising candidate for use in the microbicide pipeline because it inhibits HIV infection through cellular receptor antagonism. Hence its feasibility of expression was also evaluated in Lycopersicon esculentum (tomato). The two analogues were transiently expressed in the selected plant species via agrobacterium-mediated transfection. For expression in N. benthamiana, two different vectors (pTRA and MagnICON) were used to deliver the two analogues for transient expression. About 6-8 weeks-old N. benthamiana plants were agroinfiltrated via needle injection and vacuum infiltration methods and targeted to four subcellular compartments viz: apoplast, chloroplast, cytosol and endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The agroinfiltrated leaves were replanted, grown in a tissue culture laboratory and harvested after different periods. For expression in L. esculentum, the MagnICON constructs were used to deliver the 5P12 gene into four different developmental stages of tomato fruits viz: mature green (MG), breaker (B), pink (P) and ripe (R) via needle injection. The agroinjected tomato fruits were incubated in a dark cupboard and harvested after different periods. xiii Proteins were extracted from the harvested material and evaluated for 5P12 and 6P4 expression. ELISA results showed expression of 5P12 and 6P4 in N. benthamiana leaves which was detectable at 3-9 days post infiltration (dpi). Similar results were obtained for 5P12 and 6P4, consequently only results for 5P12 are reported. The vacuum infiltrated leaves of both pTRA and MagnICON constructs led to higher yields than the needle injected leaves. The highest yields were obtained with the MagnICON constructs. The highest 5P12 expression level of 603 μg/kg fresh weight leaf tissues (~0.024% TSP) was obtained in the apoplast at 9 dpi. The pTRA constructs had the highest expression levels of 0.63μg/kg FW in the cytosol at 3 dpi. 5P12 was also detectable at 3-9 dpi in L. esculentum, based on ELISA results. The highest 5P12 expression of 23.56 μg/kg FW and pH 4.75 tissues was obtained at the MG stage in the apoplast at 9 dpi. Western blot analysis confirmed the size of plantmade 5P12. Moreover, the plant extracts had anti-viral activity and were not toxic to TZM-bl cells. Our results show that the RANTES can be made in both N. benthamiana and L. esculentum and that the levels are not different from other systems reported previously. Furthermore, this is the first report that a chemokine has been expressed in plants. The quantities expressed were low making the commercial development of a microbicide from these species impractical. However, production of bulky leaf material may enhance the quantities. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2013 / Paraclinical Sciences / unrestricted

HIV and AIDS stigma has become a vital challenge for all stakeholders in the workplace. Although government has developed policies on managing HIV and AIDS, indications are that the implementation of these policies and strategies has not been effective in mitigating HIV and AIDS workplace stigma. The key thrust for conducting this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of Employee Wellness Practitioners concerning HIV and AIDS stigma in the Gauteng Provincial Government [GPG] departments. The study was geared towards ascertaining empirically the Employee Wellness Programme [EWP] practitioners’ perceptions regarding the manifestation of HIV and AIDS stigma, the context of stigma in a government department, and insight into whether workplace interventions have been effective in mitigating stigma. The general orientation to the study in Chapter 1 provides an overview of the definition of the problem of stigma, and also of the goals and objectives of the study, the research question, empirical approach, research design and methodologies used, pilot testing of data collection instrument, research population, sampling methods, ethical considerations and the structure of the study report. Fourteen EWP practitioners from the 13 GPG departments were interviewed by the researcher. The literature review in Chapter 2 theoretically scrutinises the problem of HIV and AIDS stigma with specific reference to the types, forms sources, causes and consequences of stigma. The conjectural context of HIV and AIDS stigma in the workplace is expounded and workplace interventions are explored. Chapter 3 of this study presents and analyses the data collected from the respondents. Findings indicate that HIV and AIDS stigma is widespread in the GPG departments and that workplace responses as per EWP practitioners’ perceptions are diverse. HIV and AIDS stigma mitigation strategies necessitate the use of multi-dimensional, multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral approaches which should be tailored to address the challenges and needs of relevant stakeholders. From the results of this study it is apparent that HIV and AIDS stigma has an immense impact on the performance of government employees, and that current HIV and Employee Wellness policies are not sufficient to enhance stigma mitigation in the workplace. Lack of support, commitment and visionary leadership in government departments impede the hard EWP practitioners’ efforts to de-stigmatise HIV and AIDS in the GPG. Chapter 4 presents the conclusions and recommendations for prioritisation and implementation through workplace interventions. Copyright / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted