Tag: opinion piece

Categories : Ethics and Law IT in HealthcareTags :

Best Practice in POPIA Compliance in TeleHealth

On By ModernMedia

By Wayne Janneker, Executive for Mining Industrial and Health Management at BCX

In the intricate field of healthcare, where privacy and patient’s data security are of utmost importance the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) emerges as a cornerstone legislation. Specifically crafted to safeguard individual privacy, POPIA carries profound implications for the healthcare sector, particularly in the protection of a patient’s medical data.

POPIA establishes a framework for healthcare professionals, mandating that they exert reasonable efforts to inform patients before obtaining personal information from alternative sources. The Act places significant emphasis on the secure and private management of patient’s medical records, instilling a sense of responsibility within the healthcare community.

Section 26 of the Act unequivocally prohibits the processing of personal health information, yet Section 32(1) introduces a caveat. This section extends exemptions to medical professionals and healthcare institutions, but only under the condition that such information is essential for providing proper treatment and care pathways. It’s a delicate balance, ensuring the patient’s well-being while respecting the boundaries of privacy.

A breach of POPIA transpires when personal information is acquired without explicit consent, accessed unlawfully, or when healthcare professionals fall short of taking reasonable steps to prevent unauthorised disclosure, potentially causing harm or distress to the patient. The consequences for non-compliance are severe, ranging from substantial monetary compensation to imprisonment.

For healthcare providers, especially those venturing into the realm of telehealth services, navigating POPIA compliance is of critical importance. Good clinical practices become the guiding principles in this journey of upholding patient confidentiality and privacy.

Let’s delve into the essentials of ensuring privacy in healthcare, where understanding the nuances of privacy laws becomes the bedrock for healthcare providers. It’s not merely about keeping up with regulations; it’s about aligning practices with the legal landscape, creating a solid foundation for what follows.

When we shift the focus to telehealth, selecting platforms tailored to meet POPIA requirements becomes even more crucial—it’s imperative. Envision these platforms as protectors of patient information, featuring end-to-end encryption and secure data storage, creating a fortress around sensitive data. But we can’t merely stop there; we need to be proactive. Regular risk assessments become the secret weapon, requiring healthcare providers to stay ahead of the game, constantly evolving, and nipping potential security threats in the bud.

Managing the human element—the healthcare team—becomes significant. Educating them about compliance, data security, and the significance of patient confidentiality adds another layer of protection. When everyone comprehends their role in maintaining compliance, it’s akin to having a team of protectors ensuring the safety of patient data.

Establishing clear policies and procedures around telehealth use, patient consent, and the secure handling of patient data is our compass for ethical and legal navigation. It’s not just about ticking boxes; it’s about creating a roadmap that ensures we’re on the right path.

Informed consent is the cornerstone of this journey. It’s about building trust with patients by transparently communicating through secure communication channels, encryption of patient data, stringent access controls, regular internal audits, and airtight data breach response plans, all of which forms part of a strategy, ensuring a state of readiness to tackle any challenges that come our way.

In this dynamic landscape, technology can’t be static. Regular updates to telehealth technology, software, and security measures are our way of staying in sync with evolving threats and regulations.

Healthcare providers aren’t necessarily experts on the Act or technology, which is why consulting with legal experts specialising in healthcare can provide accurate information on which to base decisions. It ensures that practices aren’t just compliant but resilient against any legal scrutiny that may come their way.

The final and most crucial element is the patient. Their feedback is like a map, guiding healthcare providers to areas of improvement. By monitoring and seeking insights from patients regarding their telehealth experiences, providers uncover ways to enhance their compliance measures.

In embracing these best practices and remaining vigilant to changes, healthcare practitioners and providers can navigate POPIA compliance successfully and deliver high-quality health and telehealth services. It’s a commitment to patient privacy, data security, and the evolving landscape of healthcare regulations that will propel the industry forward.

Categories : Environmental Effects Ethics and LawTags :

Opinion Piece: Ripples of Change toward Building a World of Water Equity and Unity

On By ModernMedia

By Robert Erasmus, Managing Director at Sanitech

Photo by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography on Unsplash

World Water Day 2024 resonates deeply in South Africa, where access to clean water remains a significant struggle for many. Recent protests sparked by water scarcity highlight the urgency of this issue, reminding us that water is not just a resource, but a fundamental human right.

This year’s theme, “Leveraging Water for Peace,” calls for unity and recognition of water’s universal significance. As we face the reality of inequality, it is important for us to renew our commitment to equitable water access for all, by fostering dialogue and taking action that is deeply rooted in empathy and ubuntu. Every drop should bring not only sustenance, but also the promise of peace and prosperity.

Connecting local struggles to global issues

South Africa’s water challenges mirror broader global concerns. Ranked a worrying fifth in global water risk, we share these strained resources with our neighbours. This interconnectedness cannot be ignored, and neglecting this truth is likely to fuel regional tensions. Instead, by highlighting our shared challenge, we can strengthen our position and emphasise the need for collaborative solutions. The depth of South Africa’s water scarcity isn’t just a domestic issue – it’s a regional one. Our ranking among the world’s worst puts us alongside stressed neighbours, suggesting the potential for cross-border conflict over shared resources.

Internally, competition between formal and informal users already creates friction, amplified by seasonal rainfall and inadequate infrastructure. To make matters worse, poor sanitation further contaminates water sources, escalating the crisis. The Institute for Security Studies’ Public Violence and Protest Monitor shows that in South Africa, community frustrations with water and sanitation delivery failures resulted in 585 cases of public protest between January 2013 and April 2021, of which incidents, 65% escalated into violent protests.

Aligning with the water rights framework

Although South Africa boasts a progressive water rights framework, our efforts must align with this framework, ensuring that the fight for water equity remains central to our pursuit of peace. Empowering communities with access to clean drinking water and sanitation and upholding water rights are essential steps toward conflict prevention.

Raising awareness is essential, but tangible action holds the key to progress. Businesses can play an important role in acknowledging South Africa’s water scarcity and investing in corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects that focus on addressing sanitation and water quality in the communities in which they operate. From an individual perspective, it is important that each citizen does their part to conserve water, while supporting organisations that work on improving water access, and raising awareness of related issues within their communities. At a government level, it is critical to prioritise infrastructure maintenance, address sewage contamination, and collaborate with regional partners and industries on sustainable water management strategies, to prevent civil unrest by addressing water equity issues.

Tapping into Ubuntu and empathy

Ubuntu, the South African philosophy of shared humanity, encourages us to understand and share the experiences of others. Cultivating empathy across communities, businesses, and government fosters inclusive dialogue and collaborative solutions. With the principles of ubuntu in mind, it is critical to address sewage contamination to preserve our scarce water resources. It is essential for municipalities and provincial governments to invest in infrastructure upgrades to reduce water loss and improve delivery.   Businesses operating within the sanitation and water treatment sectors have the potential to empower communities by providing filtration and treatment solutions for local water sources. Moreover, the broader private sector can contribute to corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives aimed at enhancing sanitation and water quality in vulnerable communities.

Amplifying voices through collaborative communication

Empowering community voices is vitally important. This can be achieved through increased awareness on water scarcity and its impact, as well as by supporting local initiatives that improve water access and quality. Based on the principles of ubuntu, we must advocate for the facilitation of open communication between communities, businesses, and government. Water advocacy groups such as South African Water Caucus (SAWC), and water project NGOs such as the Mvula Trust must continue to advocate for increased funding for water and sanitation projects, by holding the government accountable for meeting water rights and supporting regional cooperation on water management.

Uniting for peace and prosperity

In this way, individuals, organisations, and governments can turn the promise of World Water Day into tangible progress by working together. In prioritising equitable water access, addressing underlying challenges, and fostering collaboration, we can build a future where every drop flows towards peace, not conflict. Remember, water scarcity and strife does not have to be our inevitable future. Through collective action and commitment, we can ensure that this precious resource serves as a bridge to peace and prosperity for all.

Categories : Gender HIVTags :

OPINION: With the Right Interventions We can Help Many More Men Start and Stay on HIV Treatment

On By ModernMedia

By Shawn Malone for Spotlight

June is Men’s Health Month and while the focus is mostly on men’s attitudes about their health, it is also worth reflecting on the health sector’s attitudes toward men.

We hear many stereotypes about men and health, but how many of those are actually true?

A few years ago representatives of The Mpilo Project spoke to more than 2 000 men in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga to understand why many find it hard to engage with HIV testing and treatment. We uncovered several myths and misperceptions in the process.

One common myth is that men are stubborn and apathetic about HIV – that they aren’t listening and don’t care. While many men may indeed wear a mask of indifference, HIV leaves many of them feeling paralysed by fear and anxiety. This is why we need a health service delivery approach rooted in encouragement and reassurance, not scolding and pressure.

Another common misconception is that men are mainly just workers who need practical solutions like convenient clinic hours and quick service. The reality is that men are complex human beings who face social and emotional barriers as well as practical ones. We need solutions that address both practical and psychosocial barriers.

There is also a view that sources of support are available and that men just fail to access them, perhaps because “they don’t really want support”. In fact, many men are hungry for support but see no sources that feel safe or relatable. They experience counselling as scripted, one-directional, overly technical, and often judgmental. The key is to give men the right sources of support and to speak empathetically to their individual issues and concerns.

Finally, there is a view that healthcare providers are helping men by taking proactive approaches like provider-initiated testing and tracking-tracing. But these often leave men feeling hunted and ambushed by the health system. We need proactive approaches that leave men feeling like they still have control over their own lives and decisions and help them develop their own internal motivation to start and stay on treatment.

These and other misconceptions can lead healthcare providers to conclude that men are simply difficult if not impossible to reach. But once we understand their barriers, that picture changes dramatically.

The 11th SA AIDS Conference concluded last week and in one of the plenary sessions we had the opportunity to respond to the question: “Strategies for reaching men—are we seeing a return on investment?”

The short answer is yes!

Since 2017, the percentage of men with HIV in South Africa who know their status has increased from 78% to 94%, nearly on par with women. We can attribute that in part to approaches like HIV self-testing that have made it quick, easy, and private for men to learn their status.

We’ve also seen good progress on viral suppression, which has increased from 82% to 93%, again comparable to the rate among women – proof that men on treatment are fully capable of being adherent.

Yet only 70% of men who know they have HIV are currently on treatment – hardly any increase at all from 68% in 2017.

Given the progress we’ve seen in men testing for HIV and achieving viral suppression, the persistent gap in men on treatment suggests that something is wrong – not with men but with the HIV treatment services and support we are offering them.

The good news

The good news is that we know much more than we did a few years ago about what works. Here are three examples.

The MINA campaign aims to reach men with “the new HIV story” by featuring stories from real men living a healthy, happy life with HIV on social media, television, radio, billboards, etc. The campaign also helps men feel more welcome in the clinic, using signage and materials to send the signal to men that “this is your space too”. MINA-supported districts and facilities have seen strong growth in testing and linkage, as well as modest improvement in retention in care.

The Coach Mpilo model employs men who are thriving with HIV as coaches of men at risk of non-initiation or disengagement. Coaches provide a safe, relatable source of support and serve as living proof that HIV is not the end of the road. Piloted in 2020 and currently implemented in 18 districts, the model is achieving 97% linkage to care and 94% retention.

The B-OK bead bottles are a simple visual tool for helping people to understand the benefits of HIV treatment and viral suppression and, more importantly, to build the motivation to start and stay on treatment. Red beads are HIV; black beads are healthy cells. A mixed bottle represents most people upon diagnosis. A red bottle represents the virus multiplying uncontrolled in the absence of treatment. A black bottle with one red bead represents viral suppression achieved through treatment adherence. In an evaluation of the tool, understanding of how HIV treatment works increased from 12.5% to 92.5%.

Men are not indifferent about their health and they are not inherently poor health-seekers. If many of them are avoiding healthcare services, let’s consider that it may be because they are not getting what they need from these services.

We have seen that men do engage when we in the public health sector meet them where they are rather than where we want them to be; when we speak to their needs and priorities rather than ours; when we give them the right sources of support rather than one-size-fits-all, and when we help them build understanding and motivation rather than simply instructing.

When we invest, we see returns. Let’s keep investing in scaling what works.

*Malone is the Project Director of The Mpilo Project, PSI.

Reproduced from Spotlight under a Creative Commons 4.0 Licence.

Source: Spotlight

Categories : AddictionTags :

Physician’s Personal Brush with Opioid Addiction

On By ModernMedia

For Kevin Lamb, MD,  the opioid crisis became real to him in 2009. 

Once, he said, he had spoken at a leadership forum on opioid abuse, about the role of hospital systems in addressing it. Thinking over what to say, he “realized there was very little I could add. The crisis is epidemic, and hospitals are ill-prepared to do anything proactive. It is that overwhelming.” But leading medical missions made him realise that the rest of the world has overwhelming needs too, which only become real once they are experienced firsthand.

Since transparency is so important, he decided to share his own story.

“This is my story of how close I came to going down that perilous path that is opioid addiction (or any addiction for that matter). I was fortunate that I stopped before I went too far down that path. Unfortunately, too many are unable to stop and continue the downward spiral toward that deep, dark pit called despair and its brother hopelessness. If this could happen to me, it could happen to anyone. If my story prevents even one of you from experiencing this, then the trepidation I feel sharing this will be worth it.”

His story began following his first back surgery in 2009 for an acutely herniated disc that occurred while leading a medical mission in Eastern Europe, which he said was the worst pain he had ever experienced, leaving him with a weak, numb right leg. Having to be carried to bed, living in very basic conditions, with no running water and power interruptions, he feared his condition would force him to be evacuated, although he was able to regain neurologic function for a short while, finishing the mission. 

He went in for surgery two days after getting home. He received Oxycontin with a refill, which at the time was common practice, and it eased the pain and had a calming effect, he said. Before the trip, he had experienced a lot of stress, and now being on medical leave he enjoyed the feeling of relief that it gave.

However, as the pills started to run out, he felt embarrassed at the thought of having to request a refill, at being thought of as an addict. But after he used the last pill, withdrawal symptoms kicked in — restlessness, abdominal cramping, diarrhea. “Though relatively mild, it frightened me. I never imagined I could become physically and mentally dependent. I thought this only happened to people who were ‘weak’ or lacked ‘self-discipline’. I was wrong,” he recalled.

He said that besides “scary and humbling”, it was also “surreal… “If it could happen to me, it could happen to anyone!” he warned. The reality is that many in the medical profession are at risk, the pressures of the profession can mean that substance abuse is an easy escape with devastating consequences.

He concluded, hoping that by sharing his story he could make a difference. “My fervent desire is that it will make this crisis more personal and thus more real to you. Only then can you better know the enemy you face and how best to defeat it.”

Source: KevinMD