The emergence of renewed emphasis on risk and risk management has opened a huge portal in attempting to deal with the negative impacts of mv/AIDS in the workplace. The study recognises the importance of risk management in achieving optimal benefits within any organisation. Furthermore it examines the devastating effect of mv/AIDS on the social and economic structure of South Africa and provides a benchmark programme in addressing this Issue. A case study is presented (Care for the Caregivers Programme, at McCord Hospital), which provides the framework of a programme in operation. The dissertation dissects the programme and evaluates the outcomes against a set of developed criteria. In maximising the benefits of such programmes, emphasis on proper implementation and monitoring is essential. The study proceeds to provide suggestions to harness the full potential ofthe programme. v / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.

This study endeavoured to critically appraise the current models that have been designed to evaluate the HIVI AIDS epidemic. The flaw with the models is that they are not based on adequate data. Subsequently, the incorporation of the epidemic variables into Corporate Management has been lethargic especially with respect to small and medium business enterprises in South Africa. Nevertheless, larger corporations have evaluated the impact of the HIVI AIDS epidemic in their individual companies that provide results on the magnitude of the epidemic on the corporate sector. A careful analysis of these results taking into account the nature of the business will allow for more realistic inferences of the skill demographic magnitude of the epidemic from which smaller companies that have not embarked on studies can have a platform to assess the potential magnitude of the disease and this forms the backbone of the disease. Once this is recognised and incorporated into the mindset of companies, then strategic decisions have to be taken to minimise the impact of the epidemic on the business functions to ensure firstly sustainability and then profitability. Recommendations are outlined in the study based on the experiences of the larger corporate players that have performed the appropriate analysis for this and the actions that have been instituted. Thereafter the thesis substantiates the need for implementing strategies to deal with HIVI AIDS and the goals that companies should aspire. Lastly, based on workplace programs that have already been successfully incorporated into companies, the analysis and the program implementation is outlined. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, 2003.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic affects everyone, every individual, every family, every social institution, every organisation and indeed every business, big or small. Although there are indications that HIV infection may be spreading faster among the underprivileged sectors of the population (poor, marginalised, uneducated, etc.), so far the toll among the urban young adult population has been higher. In South Africa it is estimated that as many as 1 000 people, mostly young people, are infected every day. The HIV/AIDS epidemic poses one of the greatest challenges to business development in Africa. The epidemic claims some of the best business leaders, managers and a great number of workers at all levels of the production system. HIV-related absenteeism, loss of productivity and the cost of replacing workers lost to AIDS threaten the survival of a number of businesses and industrial sectors in the increasingly competitive world market. HIV/AIDS does not affect only workers. By claiming a large part of the urban population with disposable income and by impoverishing families and communities, it also effects the market base of African business. It is clear that no one sector alone can make a significant inroad in the fight against the epidemic. A true partnership involving the government, the private sector and the community is essential to face the problem. The business community is realising that its very survival depends on how effectively it joins forces with other partners, how well it understands the legal issues, current statistics and economic impact of HIV/AIDS to face the problem. The workplace provides an excellent environment to implement a comprehensive HIV/AIDS programme and policy reform. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

This dissertation focuses on how important factors such as gender inequalities and gender vulnerabilities contribute to fuelling the spread of HIV/AIDS. The study focuses on a community in Phoenix, called Clayfield. The study examines aspects of masculinity, sexual relations, socio-economic vulnerabilities and domestic violence and demonstrates how these elements predispose women and girls to HIV infection. As a result of gender inequalities and imbalances, women are vulnerable to HIV infection. The study also explores how risky behaviour, by both men and women, can escalate women's vulnerability to the disease. The central argument engages discussion on crucial issues around gender imbalances and vulnerabilities. The study concludes with recommendations pertinent to challenging present gender-based initiatives and interventions, and suggests possible gender-sensitive strategies that could assist in curbing the spread of the disease. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2007.

Introduction Youth is a group of people which has been greatly affected by HIV epidemic in Malawi. They are vulnerable to HIV infection because they are at a stage where they are beginning sexual exploration. Youth therefore, need a lot of information and support on HIV preventions, and voluntary counseling and testing. They should be encouraged and assisted to disclose their HIV status whether positive or negative for them to access necessary support system. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to explore youth's experiences in disclosing their HIV positive status Methodology: This is an exploratory study that adopted a qualitative approach utilizing the phenomenological design to explore the experiences of HIV positive participants in disclosing their HIV positive status. The study was conducted in Likuni urban and Nambuma areas in Lilongwe district, Malawi. Ten HIV positive participants five males and five females between the ages 19-25 years were purposively sampled half from each area. A qualitative approach to data collection was done through face to face individual in-depth interviews. All the interviews were audio taped and transcribed verbatim using qualitative content analysis. Findings: The following are the four major themes that emerged from the findings of the study: factors leading to and hindering HIV positive status disclosure, disclosure of HIV status, experiences of disclosing HIV positive status, consequences of HIV positive status disclosure. These themes are in line with the objectives and the conceptual framework of the study. The findings of the study have shown that disclosure of HIV positive status among HIV positive youth is difficult and still remains a challenge. The study established that the majority of participants disclosed their HIV positive status due to their deteriorating health status. Stigma and discrimination was found to be the major barrier to HIV positive status while the positive consequences which include: psychosocial care, accessing medical services, safer sex practices and positive living with HIV seemed to be more rewarding because it brought some relief in their lives. Conclusion: Stigma and other hindering factors were found to be the major barriers to disclosure. This therefore, necessitates the need for dealing with barriers to disclosure because the benefits of disclosing HIV positive status are rewarding and outweighs the negative consequences. This study has made some recommendations to promote disclosure of HIV positive status among youth through Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, National Youth Council, National AIDS Commissions, the Community and further research. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

OBJECTIVES: To determine if women with Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection with severe degrees of immunosuppression are more predisposed to mortality from Gestational Trophoblastic Disease compared with HIV-infected women with less severe degrees of immunosuppression and Human Immunodefiency Virus (HIV) non-infected women. DESIGN: Retrospective review of case records. METHOD: A retrospective review was performed on all patients with Gestational Trophoblastic from 2003 to July 2007. A chart review was conducted and information captured on a data sheet. This retrospective audit was performed at the combined gynaecology oncology clinic of Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital. All information was kept confidential and was strictly for the purposes of the audit. STATISTICS: Factors associated with mortality were tested using Fisher's exact test. Odds ratios were reported as a measure of the strength of association. Breslow-Day's test for homogeneity in odds ratios was used to compare mortality in HIV-infected and HIV non-infected women. The analysis was done using Stata 9. i RESULTS: A total of 78 patients with Gestational Trophoblastic Disease were reviewed. There were 53 patients with invasive molar pregnancy and 25 patients with choriocarcinoma. The HIV sero-prevalence was 31%. There were 15 deaths (19%). There were 8 HIV-infected (33%o) and 7 HIV non-infected (13%) women who demised. Of the 8 patients with CD4 counts less than 200 cells/ uL, 7 patients demised. There were no mortalities amongst patients with CD4 counts more than 200 cells/uL. Of the 15 deaths, 5 HIV-infected patients and 5 HIV non-infected patients received chemotherapy. There were 5 patients admitted in very poor general condition precluding the administration of chemotherapy. Amongst the 10 patients who received chemotherapy and demised, the causes of death included widespread disease, multiorgan failure and toxicity due to chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: The overall survival of all patients managed with Gestational Trophoblastic Disease was 82% in keeping with the expected high survival reported elsewhere. The majority of patients who demised were admitted in poor general condition and had abnormal blood profiles. Despite resuscitation, these patients failed to improve precluding the administration of chemotherapy which is the mainstay of treatment. Although the numbers are small, there is clear evidence that if patients are HIV-infected with CD4 counts 200 cells/uL despite transient grade 2 myelotoxicity. / Thesis (MMed)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

This study focuses on women with both pre-eclampsia and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Pre-eclampsia is a pregnancy-specific syndrome that occurs after 20 weeks gestation. Thrombocytopenia is the most common haematological abnormality in pre-eclampsia. Further, studies suggest that the immunological mechanism plays some role in the aetiology of pre-eclampsia. The immunological hallmark of HIV infection is a progressive decline in the number of CD4 T lymphocytes and significant haematological abnormalities are also common in HIV-infected individuals i.e. anaemia, thrombocytopenia and leukopenia. The study population comprised of two groups i.e., pre-eclamptic HIV-positive African women and preeclamptic HIV-negative African women as the control group. Samples were analysed for haematological parameters (full blood count) and immunological markers (flow cytometry). There was no statistical significance in the following parameters: RBC, Hb, haematocrit, MCV, MCH, MCHC, platelets, MPV, WBC, lymphocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, monocytes, basophils and CD8. There was a statistical difference in the CD3 and CD4 counts between both the groups. However, the CD3 and CD4 counts were within the normal range in the HIV-negative pre-eclamptic group and even though CD3 decreased, it was still within the normal range in the HIV-positive pre-eclamptic group, with CD4 decreasing below the normal range in the HIV-positive pre-eclamptic group. This suggests that immune mechanisms involving CD estimations do not play a role in pre-eclampsia since the decrease in the counts can be solely attributed to HIV infection. Results obtained in this study do not show any severe haematological or immunological abnormalities when women have both pre-eclampsia and HIV infection. / Thesis (M.Med.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

The HIV/AIDS virus has been acknowledged as being the largest threat to developing countries with respect to economic and social issues. There is a large amount of information available with respect to causes, treatment, and generalities pertaining to HIV/AIDS. The information available is relevant to many different types of industries. There seems to be little information available on the HIV/AIDS programmes that companies are implementing to curb the effects that the virus is having on issues like the loss of skilled labour, the drop in productivity due to absenteeism, the decline in morale and the immensely high costs associated with training and recruitment. This study aims to look at the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS programmes in the motor industry and the perception of employees with regards to these programmes. The automotive industry is one of the key contributors to the wellbeing of the South African economy. The sustainability of the organisation relies heavily on the skill that the organisation has, and the ability of the organisation to carry this skill into the future. The data collection for this research was conducted via a web-based questionnaire using the online research programme Question Pro. All questions were close-ended. Some of the more important findings include that HIV/AIDS awareness needs to be promoted more strongly in the organisation. Succession planning was observed to be inadequate in the organisation. Another salient finding was that management needs to make it more evident to the workers that they are championing the HIV/AIDS initiatives within the company. The key recommendations are that management need to pay more attention to the concept of succession planning, and to encourage the workforce to participate in the community outreach programmes, as this has a positive effect on the macroeconomic outlook of the country. There are a number of companies in South Africa which do not conform to the appropriate level of HIV/AIDS programmes and further research should be undertaken to explore the deficiencies of these programmes and recommendations should be made based on the findings. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Introduction APOBEC3G and other related cellular cytosine deaminase family members have potent antiviral activity. In the absence of HIV-1 Vif, APOBEC3G mutates the viral DNA during viral reverse transcription. Our knowledge of the Vif-APOBEC3G interaction in human populations infected with subtype C HIV-1 is limited. Investigation of interactions between HIV and its host is crucial as it can ultimately be exploited in vaccine and therapy design. We hypothesised that certain APOBEC3G haplotypes and/or their expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of seroconverters affect viral setpoint and CD4+ T cell counts. We also hypothesised that certain APOBEC3G genetic variants are associated with increased frequency of G to A hypermutations during primary HIV-1 infection and that Vif variability influences disease progression and its ability to neutralise APOBEC3G haplotypes. Methods Our South African study cohort consisted of females at high risk for HIV-1 infection and women with known recent HIV-1 infection. We used quantitative real-time PCR to measure APOBEC3G expression in HIV- and HIV+ samples during primary infection. APOBEC3G variants were identified by DNA sequencing and TaqMan Genotyping. The HIV-1env gene was sequenced to assess Env diversity and the extent of APOBEC3G induced hypermutations. Vif variability was assessed by plasma derived clonal Vif sequences (n= 10-20 per patient) and Vif function was assessed by APOBEC3G degradation assays and HIV-1 infectivity assays. Results We found no correlation between APOBEC3G expression levels and plasma viral loads (r=0.053, p=0.596) or CD4+ T cell counts (r=0.030, p=0.762) in 32 seroconverters. However, APOBEC3G expression levels were significantly higher in HIV- individuals compared to HIV+ individuals (p<0.0001) including matched pre- and post-infection samples from the same individuals (n=13, p<0.0001). Twenty five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified within the APOBEC3G region. SNP 186R/R was associated with significantly higher viral loads (p=0.0097) and decreased CD4+ T cell levels (p=0.0081), indicating that 186R/R has a negative effect on HIV restriction. Overall HIV-1 env sequences contained a higher number of APOBEC3F compared to APOBEC3G-induced hypermutations and the number of APOBEC3F-induced hypermutations correlated negatively with viral load (r= -0.6, p=0.006) and positively with CD4 T cell counts (r=0.6, p=0.004). We cloned and sequenced a total of 392 subtype C Vifs, which showed an interpatient diversity of 6.2% to 19.2% at the amino acid level. Interestingly, Vif sequence comparison showed a strong preference for a Lysine or a Serine at position 36 for APOBEC3G 186R/R and APOBEC3G 186H/H individuals, respectively. Selected natural subtype C Vif alleles had greater ability to counteract wild type APOBEC3G 186H as compared to the APOBEC3G 186R variant as shown by both functional and HIV infectivity assays. Conclusions In conclusion, APOBEC3G expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells does not correlate with viral loads or CD4+ T cell counts during primary HIV-1 subtype C infection. However, genetic variants of APOBEC3G may affect HIV-1 pathogenesis. Amino acid changes in Vif may influence its anti-APOBEC3 activity. HIV-1 subtype C Vifs may have adapted to counteract the more active wild type APOBEC3G as compared to the less active APOBEC3G 186R variant. These studies have improved our understanding of viral-host interactions in African populations and HIV-1 subtype C infections. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2014.

Unprotected heterosexual intercourse is the major cause of the transmission of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS); however people still engage in unsafe sexual practices. Much research has therefore focused on preventive approaches and barrier methods to combat HIV and AIDS. Global HIV and AIDS statistics show that women are worst affected, leading researchers and non-governmental organizations to design interventions and programs to prevent HIV infection among women. Female condoms, also known as femidom, are effective and safe in preventing HIV if used consistently. The cost of the first generation female condom, FC1 led to slow uptake, resulting in the production of the more cost-effective second generation female condom, FC2. However, studies show that the FC2 is underutilized for a number of reasons beyond cost, including availability, reduced sexual pleasure, gender inequality and culture. There is a paucity of literature on perceptions of the female condom (Callender, 2012). This study sought to address this gap by accessing perceptions of the female condom among students on the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)’s Howard College campus. This research study adopted an interpretive paradigm and employed mixed methods of research, both quantitative and qualitative. The population/participants were drawn from male and female students at UKZN who reside in two residences on the Howard College campus, namely, John Bews and Pius Langa. A non-probability snow ball sampling method was used to select a sample frame of 124 students comprising both female and male students. Questionnaires and focus group were used to gather data; a total of 100 questionnaires were administered and a focus group was conducted with eight participants in three separate sessions. The qualitative data gathered were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), which generated simple frequencies and percentages. The quantitative data was transcribed and analyzed through thematic analysis with the help of the NVivo10 qualitative data analysis package. Thematic analysis developed by Braun & Clarke (2006) was employed to create categories and emerging themes that were derived from the coding process. Paulo Freire’s participatory development paradigm and the empowerment theory provided the conceptual framework within which the research is located. This enabled an exploration of how participatory approaches like focus group discussions create opportunities for participation. Kieffer’s (1984) four stages of empowerment guided the data analysis within the framework of empowerment theory. The study found that male students are more supportive of female condoms than female students. It also revealed that female students do not feel empowered by female condoms; this is as due to inadequate information and insufficient promotion of female condoms. Furthermore, the findings revealed that the most common source of information about female condoms among students was friends, followed by the clinic. Media and billboards had minimal effect in providing information and awareness on the female condom. Students feel that culture does not influence condom (male or female) use; this could suggest a positive future for femidom use in South Africa. / M. Soc. Sc. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.