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SA needs more liver donors to save lives‚ say researchers

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06 November 2018

By Francine Barchett

First appeared in TimesLIVE

South Africa has two world-class liver transplant centres‚ a new study finds. But they are under-utilised because not enough donor livers can be sourced and those who need their services often can’t reach them.

The two centres serve the whole of the African continent. Researchers also flagged the low numbers of patients being referred to the centres from the public sector‚ although this number has been growing. In 2004‚ when the centre opened‚ only 6% of patients were from the public sector‚ while in 2016 this had grown to 11%. The biggest challenge‚ said the researchers‚ is the absence of liver donors. There simply aren’t enough.

A shortage of facilities and the increasing demand for life-saving kidney treatment in the public sector has led to a rise in kidney-related deaths. Image: 123RF/Chanawit Sitthisombat

“This highlights one of the greatest barriers to increasing solid-organ transplant volumes in SA and can only be addressed if a multifaceted approach is fully endorsed by national government‚” they wrote.

To improve the country’s liver transplant services‚ the team advised raising awareness about organ donation‚ starting organ collection programmes at all hospitals and increasing the number of living organ donors.

A shortage of facilities and the increasing demand for life-saving kidney treatment in the public sector has led to a rise in kidney-related deaths. From 1999 to 2006‚ deaths from chronic kidney disease in the public sector increased by 67%‚ reported Professor Brian Rayner‚ head of nephrology and hypertension at Groote Schuur‚ in 2017.

Nearly 10 times more people were getting renal replacement therapy in the private sector than in the public sector: 716.3 people per million of the population in private care compared to 72.6 in public care.

Investing in the kidney transplant programme at public hospitals would therefore free up dialysis slots for new patients needing life-saving kidney treatment‚ nephrologists noted.

 

Making the world a kinder place — one gesture at a time

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13 November 2018
By Francine Barchett, Natalie Elliott, and Corey D Smith
First Appeared on TimesLIVE
Knowledge Mudzamiri is planning to give food to someone on the street to mark World Kindness Day today.
Knowledge Mudzamiri is planning to give food to someone on the street to mark World Kindness Day today.  Image: Natalie Elliott

If someone smiles at you in the street today, or offers to carry your shopping bag, they may be trying to make the world a better place because it’s World Kindness Day.

It’s a day that anyone can participate in — and everyone who does is likely to feel better for it.

Started in 1998 as an effort to make the world a better place, the idea of random acts of kindness to strangers has spread around the world, and World Kindness Day is now celebrated in 28 countries.

No act of kindness is too big or too small — all acts are part of the bigger picture of connecting humankind.

Some people told TimesLIVE in Cape Town how they planned to mark the day.

Saleem Upto from Bloemfontein says he will take on some volunteer work.
Saleem Upto from Bloemfontein says he will take on some volunteer work.  Image: Natalie Elliott

“I like to give compliments to random people because I think it could make someone’s day,” said Tiffany Japtha from Blue Downs. For Nonzukiso Mpapama from Strand, the day will be better if “you just give everyone a smile”.

Mpriza Zitha from Khayelitsha says equality is important and Taurik Hendricks from Mitchells Plain says that people are too selfish.
Mpriza Zitha from Khayelitsha says equality is important and Taurik Hendricks from Mitchells Plain says that people are too selfish.  Image: Natalie Elliott

“If everyone was equal, it would make the world a better place,” said Mpriza Zitha from Khayelitsha.

“Stop being selfish. It’s as easy as that,” said Taurik Hendricks from Mitchells Plain.

“I’m going to be more accepting of people regardless of what or who they are,” said Sisonke Ndabambi from Dunoon.

Sisonke Ndabambi from Dunoon plans to be more accepting.
Sisonke Ndabambi from Dunoon plans to be more accepting.  Image: Natalie Elliott

And for Angie Kelly from Pinelands, kindness is simple: “The basis of being kind is that you’re seeing people. Acknowledging the person who’s serving you at the table. Or when you’re walking past somebody else and just acknowledging the fact that they’re walking in the opposite direction.”

For Angie Kelly from Pinelands kindness is about acknowledging people.
For Angie Kelly from Pinelands kindness is about acknowledging people.  Image: Natalie Elliott

Deadly dog virus hits crisis levels in Cape Town just before busiest season

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14 November 2018

By Francine Barchett

First appeared on TimesLIVE

As animal welfare organisations prepare for their busiest time of year, clinics and veterinary services are facing the added burden of an outbreak of the potentially deadly parvovirus among dogs in Cape Town.

The workload ahead of the Christmas season includes normal vaccinations and check-ups. In addition, over the festive season many pets are abandoned and need rescuing.

This year an unusually high incidence of the canine virus, reported across the city, will exacerbate the workload and costs.

“We’ve learned first hand that parvo is extra bad this season,” said Lesley Jones, director of Pet Farewells, an organisation that collects and disposes of 1,500-2,000 pet and animal carcasses each month. She said staff at the animal clinics she deals with expressed concern.

Parvo is a highly contagious and often deadly disease that spreads through dogs’ faeces. Symptoms include vomiting, distinctively scented diarrhoea, loss of energy and loss of appetite.

Karen de Klerk, who heads the Cape Animal Welfare Forum, representing animal rescue shelters in the Western Cape, confirmed that infection reports were up across the region.

Canines with parvovirus suffer from loss of appetite, lethargy, and diarrhoea

The Mdzananda Animal Clinic in Khayelitsha has been overwhelmed with the “worst influx of parvo patients in the 22 years of its existence”, said manager Susan Wishart.

While the clinic usually sees around 14 parvo patients a month, last month it had seen 45, the organisation confirmed. “Our vets think that the recent heat wave could have triggered the outbreak,” said Wishart.

Parvo is preventable if pet owners take their dogs for a three-part vaccination, starting when dogs are six weeks old, and return for a booster shot each year, the clinic advises.

But at R300 for the full vaccination, it is not something that all dog owners can afford. “It’s not an option for some people. We support animals but we also support people,” said Wishart.

Treatment of infected dogs is even more costly. At the Mdzananda clinic, it runs to almost R6,400 per animal.

The nonprofit organisation is appealing to the public to donate money to help deal with the crisis that will strain already-stretched resources, as it approaches the “busy season” for abandoned pets.

“We see a lot of undernourished dogs coming in during the holidays because people haven’t talked about who’s going to take care of them while they’re away,” said Wishart.

Abortion pesticides kill foetuses — and young women

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The problem seems to be with medical practitioners who handle abortions poorly

05 November 2018
By Francine Barchett
First appeared in Times Select
Pesticide bottle.
A BOTTLE OF DESPERATION Pesticide bottle.  Image: Gyula Gyukli/123RF

A pregnant teenager repeatedly visited her local clinic begging for an abortion, but she was turned away.

Three months later she drank pesticide in an attempt to end her pregnancy, and it killed her.

This is one of the case studies related by gynaecologists calling for a shakeup in the way unwanted pregnancies are handled by medical practitioners.

Writing in the South African Medical Journal, Dr Sylvia Cebekhulu and Professor Robert Pattinson of the University of Pretoria (UP) said cases of organophosphate poisoning among girls and young women trying to induce abortions were common.

According to Wikipedia, “organophosphates are the most widely used insecticides today. They are used in agriculture, the home, gardens and veterinary practice”.

The healthcare system often failed pregnant young women, said Cebekhulu and Pattinson, describing several cases from the national maternal deaths register:

  • The teenager who was denied an abortion was acutely ill when she arrived at a hospital. She died within an hour from multi-organ failure caused by poisoning.
  • A pregnant teenager was admitted to hospital six hours after consuming a pesticide. She died three days later and “mainly received nursing care and occasional telephonic advice from a doctor”.
  • A pregnant woman in her 20s was found dead at home after drinking insecticide.
  • A 20-year-old pregnant woman was unconscious when she arrived at a hospital and soon died from suspected pesticide poisoning. The doctors said she should have been diagnosed more quickly.

Organophosphates in pesticides cause more than 200,000 deaths a year in the developing world, particularly in rural areas, said Cebekhulu and Pattinson.

Within a few days, the poisons compromise the central nervous system, and survivors may need long-term therapy or rehabilitation.

The doctors, from the obstetrics and gynaecology department at UP, outlined the protocols that should be followed when patients arrive with suspected pesticide poisoning.

And they said requests for abortions should be taken seriously. “Unplanned and unwanted pregnancies in young women are a reality,” they said.

“Young women with organophosphate poisoning have usually not attended antenatal care and/or have a history of a previous request for an [abortion].

“Organophosphates are easily accessible and a high index of suspicion should be maintained in young women [with] signs of mental alteration, pinpoint pupils … [and] shortness of breath.”

The doctors also called for greater use of long-acting, reversible contraception to prevent young women turning to pesticides to deal with unwanted pregnancies.

My mission: To get the deaf to raise their voices

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Tracy Duncan is determined to build confidence among the deaf, and to make signing SA’s 12th official language

05 November 2018
By Francine Barchett
First appeared on Times Select
Mrs Deaf SA Tracy Duncan is not shy about her skills and passions, and wants the deaf community to have the same confidence.
STAR JUMP Mrs Deaf SA Tracy Duncan is not shy about her skills and passions, and wants the deaf community to have the same confidence.  Image: Anesh Magan / Anesh Magan Photography

Tracy Duncan’s world might not be loud, but it’s definitely proud.

“Wear your hearing aid. Be proud of your deaf accent. And teach [the hearing] sign language and deaf culture,” the new Mrs Deaf South Africa tells children when she visits schools for the deaf.

Deaf children often ask Duncan if she ever was teased for her disability.

“Kids did make fun of the way I spoke and my hearing aid,” said the 33-year-old, from Goodwood in Cape Town.

Duncan won the overall title at last month’s Pretoria pageant as well as the Mrs Deaf Charity and Mrs Deaf Personality titles. Her drumstick workout won her second placed in the talent portion of the competition. Duncan loves a good workout.

She is also an avid hiker, obstacle course runner and climber. She’s been married for four years to her best friend, Warren. And she’s a digital designer at online retailer HomeChoice.

At three months old, Duncan was diagnosed as deaf. It came as a shock to her parents, as neither they nor her two older siblings were deaf.

Her doctor told her mother to choose how her daughter would learn language: would she learn to sign or speak? Her mother chose speaking.

Duncan began lipreading when she was two and speaking a year later.

“My mom would put me in front of the mirror every day for one hour to learn to lip read,” she recalled. “I wanted to play but mom would try to explain to me that I need to learn language.”

While Duncan grew up speaking, she has always identified with the deaf community. She went to schools for the deaf, so she had many friends who were deaf.

Tracy Duncan with her husband, Warren.
CRAZY IN LOVE Tracy Duncan with her husband, Warren.  Image: Samantha Hanlon / Sunkissedstudio Photography

However, it was only a few months ago that she picked up sign language. Now she hopes to help make it SA’s 12th official language. And as Mrs Deaf South Africa, Duncan might just be able to pull it off.

“I want to speak to all 46 of the deaf schools in SA,” she said, explaining plans for her “Deaf Confidence” campaign.

“My platform’s about how you present yourself, whether you speak or sign, not to be afraid to go for what you want, and to ask for what you want. A lot of the deaf have so many great ideas but they don’t believe that they can make them happen. I want to change that.”

A way Duncan hopes to empower deaf children is through physical fitness, which she credits for boosting her confidence and self-esteem.

She visited her former schools – Mary Kihn in Observatory and Dominican Grimley in Hout Bay – a couple of weeks ago to teach pupils a simple kettlebell workout as they prepared for exams. At each school, she picked two pupils to join her at Runstacle, an obstacle course near the Cape Town Ostrich Ranch.

Duncan is also determined to bring her platform to deaf married women like herself, who are usually busy with work and family.

“I want them to take care of themselves, because if you take care of yourself you can take care of others,” she said.

She hopes the simple healthy cooking e-book she is preparing will come in handy.

Mrs Deaf SA Tracy Duncan, an avid hiker, says keeping fit is vital for self-confidence.
CLIMBING HIGH Mrs Deaf SA Tracy Duncan, an avid hiker, says keeping fit is vital for self-confidence.  Image: via Facebook

Duncan is not alone as she prepares for a busy title year. She is working with a four-person team and seeking more sponsors, especially for deaf schools.

“Hearing aid batteries are very expensive,” she said.

The batteries cost about R60 and last five days. Cochlear implant batteries last only two days. Duncan knows this because she had a hearing aid before getting a cochlear implant three years ago. Without her batteries, she can’t hear anything.

“We want the deaf pageant to be on the same level as Miss South Africa and Mrs South Africa because at the moment no one knows about [us],” Duncan said.

“This is our moment to educate people about the deaf – that we can do anything but hear.”

Old hospital set to heal Cape Town’s apartheid wounds

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By Natalie Elliott

Sixteen years after a Cape Town hospital closed‚ the site is a step closer to becoming home for thousands of families.

The 22ha occupied by Conradie Hospital‚ between Thornton and Pinelands‚ is set to make way for 3‚602 houses‚ two schools and a commercial centre.

The Western Cape government wants to sell the site to Concor Construction for R202-million. Just under half the houses the company builds in a R3-billion development will be social‚ subsidised and rent-to-buy units. The remainder will be sold on the open market._____________________________________________

Read more at TimesLive

Becoming a Muslim in Prison

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By Natalie Elliott

He used to carry R1000 at a time in a roll in his throat, and in his jacket pocket he would smuggle cell phones to the prisoners on the inside. He used to be on the outside.

Many of those around him at the prison eat the sugary strawberry-flavoured biscuits on the table, but not Bonginkosi* He doesn’t put “just anything” into his body any more.

Now, he drinks only water and milk.

He drinks it with purpose. “Allahu akbar” is followed by three intentional sips.

He weighs every choice.

At the beginning he got into fights. First, they landed him in prison and then in solitary confinement. The first time in solitary, it was for 9 months, for violence. He did nothing with his time. The second time, it was for 90 days, out of choice and for his own protection. He fasted and prayed.

These days Bonginkosi considers it a privilege to choose what to do with the R1 400 he receives every month from sponsors. It was when he began swimming that his determination to change his world got him noticed. That was at the last prison. Now there is no pool but he still dreams about it, and the sponsors have stuck with him.

“When I’m in the water, I feel free,” he says.

And the money he gets now is more than he used to make from his last gig – secretly growing marijuana in the grounds of a high security prison.

Homes in the area near the prison are simple, often surrounded by sugarcane.

At first he would spend this money on snacks and cigarettes. Last month, he used it to order 56 Qurans instead. Thirty people converted to Islam, just like he had.

He used to be in the highest security prison in the country, and now he is in the lowest. He used to have contact only with members of the 26s, and now his family comes to visit him every weekend.

Bonginkosi’s world has changed since the day one of his friends shot and killed a man during a robbery. Bonginkosi was there, and that’s why he is now here.

For several years the man’s son sought a gang that would help him avenge his father. Then he came to the prison and met Bonginkosi face to face. With their extended families present, the first meeting was tentative. But the young man has persevered.

Now, he is Bonginkosi’s Muslim brother, and visits him every week. They have made their peace.

Rural Dreams

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The life she lives is one she appreciates, mostly because it’s all she’s known, but that doesn’t stop her from dreaming. It’s her ability to dream that keeps her grounded while allowing her to be free, as freedom is the only thing she truly seeks.

The rural landscape of Dokodweni, which is home to a few hundred South African natives.

Just a few hours outside of the bustling city of Durban is the rural town of Dokodweni. Like anywhere, it has the four necessities for it to function; a church, a school, a clinic and a grocery store. The residents work both regular and odd jobs, most unaware of what lies beyond their homestead.


The same can be said for Lindelwa Dube, who has gone no further than a few kilometers into town, never venturing further.

She finds freedom in her ambitions. Because of the burden of expectation that comes with being a Zulu woman—namely being a homemaker and the requirement of marriage— she spends a good amount of time submitting to the wishes of her mother and father.

The main house on the Dube plot.

 

“I always have to be available to help.” she says. “Even if there are things I don’t want to do, I do them because I don’t want to disappoint my mother.”


Humility and respect are two concepts that govern Lindelwa’s life, both of which challenge her daily – on the one hand, submitting to her parents, while on the other rebelling against school to the point where disrespecting teachers is a daily activity, most times to the detriment of her education.

She tells how she  and her schoolmates sang and danced during a lecture. And how one week the teacher decided not to show up. But education remains part of her plan – Lindelwa still wants to be a doctor.

 

Lindelwa Dube, age 15.
gracefully smiling after being caught off-guard.

She smiles as I ask why. All she knows is that her mother deserves a bigger house and her father a new car. As we sit on the sofa, eyes glued to the TV set where Imbewu: The Seed tracks the daily drama of a Zulu family caught in a big city tale of ambition and tradition, she can see herself living this life – fast paced and glittering. But her ties to her rural homestead remain powerful. She breathes and says, “One day I’ll go to America…but I want to stay here forever.”

By Corey D. Smith

Durban Driver Traces his Routes

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It’s usually the passenger whose trip takes priority. But what about the person behind the wheel? Fifty-one-year-old Virash “V” Tiloki has been driving international visitors in South Africa for thirty-three years, and he’s had quite a journey.

It rains on the way back as Tiloki’s bus drives International students from Mozambique to Durban.

“I was born in Durban to a family of two brothers and a sister. My dad passed away at an early age. We grew up in a poor suburb called Chatsworth,” Tiloki says.  

Going to school didn’t come easily. “I never really enjoyed school much back then.”   

Tiloki attributes this to being the youngest in the family—kids would bully and poke fun at him in the schoolyard.

After dropping out of school, he says, he started working as a shoe salesman “at R5 a day”. But privately, Tiloki had plans in the works.

“I said to myself, I’m going to achieve every single dream of mine and prove everybody wrong.

“I could show them that without education, if you put your mind, you put your heart and soul into anything, into a dream… (that dream will come true).  

“Driving has become my passion.”

Tiloki puts his other hand on the wheel, “You know, I’ve only read one book in my entire life.”

But his lack of formal literacy hasn’t steered him away from learning.

“My passengers are my teachers. I’m passionate about learning. I want to learn about anything and everything that comes my way.”

As a boy, Tiloki wanted to learn to how to read and play music in the footsteps of his father, who died when he was just 8.

However, the local music teacher turned him away because he didn’t have an instrument. His family was too poor to afford one.

But driving musicians on tour in Durban has given him  a taste of the music scene his father introduced him.

“I ended up meeting all of my favorite singers from India. I met every great Indian artist and got to interview them personally.”

Then he tells another story about how his love for space travel unexpectedly rocketed into his backseat.

Tiloki’s white van sits parked in one of Maputo’s streets, waiting to pick up students from their hotel.

In 2004, he drove one of the Columbia Space Shuttle commanders for a week but conversation never led to revealing his identity. One night, the man pointed out Mars to Tiloki from the car window. He wondered why his passenger would mention such a trivial fact.

When the visitor forgot an important parcel that Tiloki was able to return to him, Tiloki discovered the man was as an astronaut.

And soon after the man returned to the US, Tiloki received a letter in the mail.

It read, “To V, thank you for returning my present. If you ever come to Cape Canaveral, the tour’s on me.”

“I got the shock of my life,” he says.

Moments like these are what makes this Durban driver happy to be on the road.

 

Photo of the Day: October 10, 2018

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Found near the zebras and giraffes grazing at Amatikulu Nature Reserve stood this lonesome crinum flower. Crinum are found throughout the African continent as well as America, south Asia, and Australia. However, Africa boasts the most species. Photo: Francine Barchett

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