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‘We told the non-South Africans at the clinic to get out'

‘We told the non-South Africans at the clinic to get out'

Mail & Guardian3 days ago
Shoo, sjoe!: At the White City Clinic in Gauteng, M&G photographer Delwyn Verasamy initially was turned away for being suspected of being a Pakistani shop owner. Photos: Delwyn Verasamy
Protests against the provision of services to foreigners at healthcare facilities highlights the deepening xenophobia in the country
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US making diphtheria great again? Why SA's public health experts are worried about America's RFK Jr
US making diphtheria great again? Why SA's public health experts are worried about America's RFK Jr

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US making diphtheria great again? Why SA's public health experts are worried about America's RFK Jr

Misinformation fuelled by US health secretary Robert Kennedy Jr is creating a dangerous lack of trust in vaccines and South Africa's public health experts are scared. Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr They used to call it the Before vaccines were widely available, But one That's when US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr accused RFK Jr's vaccine stance is completely at odds with the global public health community and years of science, ignoring It's the latest in a long and storied history of RFK Jr's South Africa has also been hit by But, says Heidi Larson, the director of the 'Events in the US absolutely have global repercussions,' she says. 'They embolden others, especially those still undecided about vaccination, and that's where the danger lies.' The trouble with RFK Since launching in 2000, Gavi has been credited for protecting an entire generation — The US had been among the top three To support his attack on Gavi and DTP, the US health secretary points to a 'He cherry-picks a poorly conducted study and ignores mountains of evidence to the contrary,' says Salim Abdool Karim, a leading epidemiologist and director of the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa, A recent South Africa, like many higher-income countries, uses a newer version of the vaccine than Gavi, called Recent diphtheria outbreaks show how quickly things can go wrong when vaccination rates slow down. The WHO found that the Because it is such a rare and deadly disease that spreads easily through coughing and sneezing, Deepfakes and institutionalised disinformation As RFK Jr took to social media to spread more disinformation about vaccines, a video of an AI-generated Abdool Karim, a South African epidemiologist and virologist internationally recognised for his work on HIV/Aids and Covid-19, surfaced. The video was a deepfake (a manipulated image created to misrepresent someone or something) and hijacked Abdool Karim's credibility and likeness to falsely warn viewers that those vaccinated against Covid-19 vaccines may be facing deadly danger. In reality, Abdool Karim has been a vocal advocate for vaccines, including during the pandemic, when he chaired the ministerial advisory committee which guided the In a ' institutionalised disinformation' , where the very institutions once trusted to uphold science are now the ones spreading doubt. He draws a straight line between former president Thabo Mbeki's Aids denialism which led to the 'Where the state now becomes the source of the disinformation, you lose your bearings as to where to get the truth,' Abdool Karim said. 'That's why the right information about vaccines is as important as the vaccines themselves'. MMR, autism and RFK In the US, measles vaccination rates have been slipping steadily for years, largely because of the He has claimed countless times that the This week, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention 'The chaos that is going on in the US … has a knock-on effect all across the world. It's critical for us to be proactive, rather than wait until the damage is done,' says Edina Amponsah-Dacosta, a virologist with the For Amponsah-Dacosta, the current Because measles is When people think about measles, they often just consider the rash, she says. But measles affects many organs and the effect of the disease on the body can linger. 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If a cigarette box isn't disgusting, it's not doing its job
If a cigarette box isn't disgusting, it's not doing its job

Mail & Guardian

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If a cigarette box isn't disgusting, it's not doing its job

A throat ulcer. Bloody urine. A sick baby. That's what smokers in other countries see. In South Africa? For now, it's a tiny black box. Photo: Canva In Bangladesh, cigarette packs show a photograph of an ulcer on a throat or someone on a ventilator. Mexico's show bloody urine in a toilet or a woman with breast cancer. In South Africa, a small black box reads: 'Warning: Smoking kills'. When warning signs are big, graphic and swopped out regularly, they stop people from smoking, according to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) latest Yet, despite the WHO finding South Africa — along with Lesotho — has the highest proportion of adults who smoke daily in Africa, Local cigarette packs have eight different warning texts such as 'Danger: Smoking causes cancer' and 'Warning: Don't smoke around children', but none show images. There are also 'We don't have graphic warnings [which is a problem because] many people can't read the text that's only in English, and we don't enforce laws around advertisement, particularly for e-cigarettes.' That will change if parliament passes the 'Weak' text only warnings The WHO recommends cigarette pack warnings as Picture warnings showing the harms of smoking, like blackened lungs or children in hospital beds, are According to the WHO report, about 110 countries use cigarette graphic warnings, but 40 — including South Africa — still have 'weak' text-only labels or none at all. Canada was the 'The colour of the pack makes a difference' Under South Africa's proposed anti-smoking legislation, all cigarette packs sold in the country will carry plain packaging and graphic warnings. Tobacco products will be wrapped in a uniform plain colour chosen by the health minister and must have warnings that cover at least 65% of the front and back. Cigarette packs must show messages about the harms of smoking or benefits of quitting, information on what the product contains and emits, and include pictures or graphics that show the health risks. 'Our Local 'The colour of the pack makes a difference,' says Ayo-Yusuf. 'South Africans look at their pack in making a brand choice, and that choice is linked to what we call the expected sensory experience [how satisfying smoking is], which leads to smoking more cigarettes a day,' The rules on packaging and warnings won't stop at cigarettes. They will also apply to nicotine products like e-cigarettes (or vapes) — devices that heat a liquid containing flavourings such as gummy bear or cherry peach lemon in colourful packaging Plain packaging makes e-cigarettes less appealing to young people. In a 2023 Nevertheless, plain packaging has become one of the main targets of the tobacco industry's pushback against the Bill. Big Tobacco strikes back The Tobacco Bill has been in the making since Because South Africa's rules on advertising tobacco are strict, Big Tobacco relies on packaging as a When cigarettes are produced illegally with fake trademarks or sold to customers before taxes are paid on the goods, it is seen as illicit trade. While companies have long 'Currently, they're already producing these cigarettes and The industry also For example, current rules list eight warning texts that must alternate on cigarette packs, while smokeless tobacco products only carry one about oral cancer. 'They are jumping ahead by claiming you can't regulate vapes the same way as cigarettes. The regulation could say that cigarette packs must have a graphic of a sick baby, while vapes show an image of someone chained to addiction.' In a parliamentary hearing last month, Once the hearings end, it will be up to the National Assembly to pass, amend or reject the Bill before it finally goes to the National Council of Provinces and then the president to be signed into law. And if it is signed, not only cigarette packs — but the tobacco industry in South Africa — could look very different. This story was produced by the . Sign up for the .

University brings together wide range of expertise to help at-risk children
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The Herald

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