The courts approach to HIV positive employees will be studied as they give a rough This dissertation takes its focus from the plight of millions of South Africans living with HIV/AIDS. HIV sufferers count for 11.2 percent of our entire population. It has furthermore been predicted that in the next 10 years to come, 40 to 50 percent of the current workforce will be lost to HIV/AIDS.1 Only certain people qualify for free government issued anti-retrovirals (HIV/AIDS medication), this leaves a large portion of people unable to afford their much needed medication. This ultimately leads to them becoming very ill and often unable to work. These statistics do not leave the South African employment situation with great confidence. Much legislation has been promulgated that prohibits the discrimination of those suffering from the disease and this legislation and its impact will be analyzed to see if it does meet the current needs of those suffering from HIV/AIDS. What will be discussed is how this legislation does not make available for the mechanism for employers to provide either the treatment or the access to a medical aid for their employees suffering from HIV. The cost of such a provision of treatment will be a great expense to any employer, especially those of a smaller nature. What will be dealt with is ways in which to encourage employers to implement such a scheme, through tax rebates and seeing the financial benefits of implementing such an arrangement. The provision of treatment encourages a better working relationship and reduces, amongst other things, the cost of staff replacement. The Labour Relations Act2 does offer employer’s guidelines as to how HIV positive employees should be handled at the workplace. However these are just guidelines. What will be examined is how such a policy can be implemented in any workplace, the contents of such a policy and benefits of it being a compulsory workplace addition. Successful workplace policies and legislative guidelines will be used to create an ideal HIV workplace policy model. The courts approach to HIV positive employees will be studied as they give a rough indication of whether HIV positive person’s rights are being affected at the workplace. This will dictate to us whether there is a need for improvement and to what extent. What will be seen is that there are large gaps in the South African employment arena. HIV positive employees are falling through these gaps with no protection and no one willing to take on the challenge of helping to improve their lives. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Public Law / unrestricted

Magister Artium (Child and Family Studies) - MA(CFS) / The aim of this study was to capture the intensity and incidence of catastrophic health care expenditures in order to describe the degree to which catastrophic health care payments occur among households. Simultaneously, the study set out to assess the extent to which people are made poor or poorer by health spending, i.e. the impoverishing effects of healthcare spending. / South Africa

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk behaviors, namely tobacco smoking, hazardous alcohol use, poor diet and sedentary behavior, are more prevalent among people living with HIV (PLWH) than the general population. Qualitative evidence shows that PLWH report adopting unhealthy behaviors as a means of coping with the stress of living with HIV, including the adverse physiological symptoms of HIV infection, the psychological stress of being aware of one’s HIV status, and the physiological and psychological impacts of being on HIV treatment. These observations suggest that being HIV-positive may have a causal influence on CVD risk behaviors and that these causal effects likely differ across stages of the HIV continuum. To date, few quantitative studies have been conducted to examine these causal relationships. The goal of this dissertation was to explore the effects of HIV continuum stage on CVD risk behaviors and assess several plausible stress-coping mechanisms, as motivated by established stress-coping theory. This dissertation consisted of three studies. First, a systematic review was conducted to examine the existing quantitative evidence for the causal effects of HIV continuum stage on CVD risk behaviors. Findings from this review revealed that being HIV-positive is associated with excess smoking and drinking, and that while receipt of a positive HIV diagnosis is associated with short-term improvements in some CVD risk behaviors, these improvements are unlikely to be maintained long-term. Overall, however, the existing studies suffer important methodological limitations, notably inadequate characterization of HIV continuum stage. The second study was an empirical analysis of patterns of self-reported CVD risk behaviors across the HIV continuum among a population-based sample of 4,061 adults aged 40 years and over living in rural Agincourt district in South Africa. Results showed no consistent evidence of an association between HIV continuum stage and hazardous alcohol use or sedentary behavior. However, higher prevalence of smoking was observed specifically among males who were HIV-positive and aware of their status but not on treatment, compared to those who were HIV-negative. There was no evidence of mediation by various measures of physiological and/or psychological stress. The third study was an analysis of whether perceived life expectancy (PLE) modifies the effects of HIV continuum stage on CVD risk behaviors. Observed associations were most prominent among individuals with low PLE and null among those with high PLE. Overall, this dissertation contributed to greater understanding of the relationship between CVD risk behaviors among HIV-infected persons across the HIV continuum. Findings did not support a stress-coping hypothesis; however, PLE was found to be a potentially useful indicator of individuals who are most likely to smoke in the presence of HIV. This dissertation also fills evidence gaps among older adults in sub-Saharan Africa, an under-studied population with high and increasing burdens of both HIV and CVD. As HIV-positive population survive longer on antiretroviral therapy and the prevention of age-related conditions becomes increasingly important, these findings may help inform future research and the development of CVD prevention interventions.

Thesis (M. A. (Clinical Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / In this study, the researcher aimed to discover stigma associated with people living with HIV and AIDS in Mahwelereng, Limpopo province. The researcher sampled five males and five females and they were between the ages of 18 and 35. In-depth interviews were a method of choice during data collection. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse data. The results show negative perceptions towards PLWHA. The community discriminate PLWHA because of fear of being infected, with females being at a higher risk because they are perceived to be promiscuous. Participants also highlighted that black people lack knowledge of how to treat and behave towards HIV/AIDS infected individuals. It is recommended that there should be studies that focus on availability of interventions that aim to combat HIV/AIDS stigma. Lastly, the future studies should explore which race groups have more knowledge and perception about HIV and AIDS. KEY CONCEPTS: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; Human Immunodeficiency Virus; People Living with HIV and AIDS; Stigma. / National Research Foundation (NRF)

Thesis(M.A.(Nursing)) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / The purpose of the study was to identify and explore the challenges faced by mothers with HIV positive children and who were admitted to Pietersburg Hospital, Limpopo Province, South Africa, during the period of study. A qualitative research methodology was used in the study based on exploratory and descriptive designs. The population for the study included all mothers of children who are HIV positive and had been admitted to the Paediatric Ward of Pietersburg Hospital, Limpopo Province, during the period of study. Non-probability purposive sampling was used to draw a sample of twelve (12) HIV positive participants from the research population. Data was collected from twelve participants through the use of semi-structured in-depth interviews, guided by an interview schedule. Fields notes were captured for non-verbal communication and a voice recorder was used to capture all the audio record of the interview sessions. Ethical clearance for the study was obtained from Turfloop Research Ethics Committee (TREC); and permission to collect data at the Pietersburg Hospital was obtained from the Limpopo Department of Health as well as the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer and from the Operational Manager of the Paediatric Ward. The findings from the study indicated that mothers of HIV positive children experienced numerous psychosocial and economic challenges on a daily basis. These challenges include accepting their own and their children’s HIV positive status; and also disclosing the status to their children. They also had to deal with opportunistic infections that the HIV positive children are more susceptible to, as well as challenges of ensuring that their children did not default on the medication schedules. Poverty and the lack of finances to pay for the various special needs of HIV positive children were also other key challenges experienced by the mothers. In light of these findings the study recommends the need for HIV/AIDS education, support from families and significant others as well as from the government. The study also recommends that well-coordinated and integrated inter-departmental intervention programmes are required to help mothers cope with their challenges.

"This dissertation first explores specific issues highlighting the weaknesses in the legal provisions on women's rights and HIV/AIDS problems and its resulting effect on the obligation of African states to take adequate measures to protect women, especially those living with HIV/AIDS. Secondly, it examines, for purpose of meeting the first objective, into what is provided for by the African regional human rights system through the Charter provisions, declarations and resolutions relating to HIV/AIDS and the Protocol on the Rights of Women. Thirdly, the disseration inquires into the extent to which Mozambique is meeting its obligations to address the problem of discrimination against women and to provide health care to women living with HIV/AIDS. Finally, in the light of the lacunae found within the African regional human rights system in addressing women's rights and HIV/AIDS, this disseration will make recommendations to fill the void and better protect the rights of women in Africa, especially those living with HIV/AIDS. ... The study will consist of five chapters. Chapter one provides the context in which the study is set. It highlights the basis and structure of the study. Chapter two outlines specific issues on the inability of the various legal provisions on women's rights and HIV/AIDS to effectively protect women from the scourge of HIV/AIDS, Chapter three discusses the African regional human rights system. Here specific refernce is made to some provisions of the African Charter relating to the right of women as well as some declarations and resolutions on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Also references is made to the Protocol on the Rights of Women. Chapter four highlights and addresses the gaps relating to the protection of women from HIV/AIDS in the African regional human rights system and finally chapter five will consist of a summary of the disseration and the conclusions drawn from the entire study. It will also make some recommendations as to how HIV/AIDS should be dealth with both at the regional level (the role of the African Commission) and at the domestic level (the role of the state) in relation to the violation of women's rights." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2004. / Prepared under the supervision of Mr. Leopoldo de Amaral at the Faculty of Law, Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/llm1.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

MSc (Microbiology) / Department of Microbiology

University of Venda / MSc (Microbiology)

Magister Curationis / The National Programme of Prevention of Mother to Child transmission (PMTCT) in relation to HIV/AIDS was introduced by the Department of Health in different sites per province in South Africa in 2001. The number of women has a chance to access antenatal clinic services during pregnancy but they start to attend usually in late gestation.

This study was designed to investigate what course of action therapists and physicians report they would take in reconciling their conflicting duties to maintain confidentiality and protect third parties from harm in HIV-related situations. The physicians surveyed were licensed to practice medicine in Texas and board certified in Internal Medicine. The therapists surveyed were licensed professional counselors in Texas and members of one of three selected divisions within the Texas Counseling Association. A survey instrument developed by the researcher was mailed to 200 subjects randomly selected from each group.