PUBLIC HEALTH – Lesson 6

HIV AND AIDS

• Know how HIV/AIDS is spread
• Protect yourself and your partner
• Know when to visit the clinic
• Know about ART
• Getting ready for ART
• Living with HIV – ART’s, diet, etc
• Importance of treatment compliance.
• How Barberton mines can help you.

HIV/AIDS AND TB

• Wellness awareness: HIV/AIDS and TB

HIV is spread from one person to another through:

• Unprotected sex with an infected person contact with infected blood infection from mother to her unborn or new-born baby

TUBERCULOSIS

• What is TB?
• Who is susceptible to contracting TB?
• How is TB spread
• What are the symptoms of TB
• Why its important to get treatment.
• What treatment will you need to go through.
• Importance of treatment compliance.
• Ways to prevent TB.
• How Barberton mines can help you.

NUTRITION AND PERSONAL HYGIENE

• The importance of personal hygiene –
• A clean body is a healthy body.
• By washing your body daily you will prevent sickness and you will be able to work every day and provide for your family.

NUTRITION AND PERSONAL HYGIENE

How to maintain a healthy level of personal hygiene:

• Do not abuse ALCOHOL or DRUGS.
• Shower daily.
• Wash socks daily.
• Wash linen regularly.
• Good Nutrition – Eat healthy and balanced foods
• Different foods protect the body in different ways, e.g. energy giving, body building, protective foods, etc.

Energy-giving foods (provide the body the strength to work. Alone are insufficient and must be combined with other foods. Food types – maize, rice, sorghum, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, bread, oil, and margarine).

Body-building foods (help make muscles and bones strong. Help put lost weight back on. Food types – meat, fish, chicken, eggs, soya, samp, beans, milk, sour milk and maheu).

NUTRITION AND PERSONAL HYGIENE

Protective Foods (Helps protect the body. Add taste and flavour to meals. Food types – Oranges, mango, pineapple, eggplant, pawpaw, bananas, tomato, avocado, carrots, onions and spinach).

Each meal should include all 3 food types above:

• Eat dried beans, peas, lentils and soya regularly (at least once a week).  These foods are high in protein and fibre and low in fat.  Replace or extend meat dishes with beans, peas, lentils and soya.
• Make starchy foods the basis of your meals.  The best starchy foods to choose are those high in fibre as they are digested slowly and can stop some of the fat from your diet being absorbed.
• Try to eat a variety of fruit and vegetables every day; frozen vegetables are as good as fresh vegetables.
• Eat fat sparingly to reduce your risk of chronic diseases of lifestyle such as heart disease.
• Use salt sparingly – too much salt in the diet is linked with high blood pressure.

INCREASING APPETITE:

Eat when not hungry

• You are more vulnerable to infection if you’re not eating
• Avoid alcohol since it reduces appetite

Drink porridge

• Drink porridge with soya flour or pounded groundnuts for increased strength
• Have a warm drink after waking up and before going to bed

Eat small quantities more often

• Eat small portions 5 to 6 times a day or every 2 hours.

Eat favourite and tasty foods

• Eat your favourite foods with spices (garlic, ginger, curry), onions, or tomatoes for flavour ( unless you have oral thrush, diarrhoea or another condition that spicy food can aggravate)

Make food easier to take

• Soft, mashed and moist foods are easier to eat
• Grind meat and chicken or cut into smaller pieces for easier eating
• Drink with a straw if mouth is sensitive

IMPORTANCE OF GOOD NUTRITION:

Maintain body weight

• Eating well helps you maintain weight and increase strength
• Eating well helps you regain weight lost during illness

Fight infections

• Eating well helps fight illness and helps you to recover faster when sick
• Good nutrition reduces the time and money spend on healthcare

Need to eat well with HIV

• HIV and AIDS increases the body’s need for food
• People living with HIV and AIDS are more at risk for malnutrition
• Eating well keeps you productive and able to work

LIVING POSITIVELY:

Eat with family and friends

• It feels good to be part  of a family
• Eating outside in the fresh air increases appetite

Meet with friends

• Talking to others sharing the same interests or problems
• Take care of your own needs
• Go out into the fresh air and sun at least once a day

Regain lost strength

• Find enjoyment and spend time with family and friends

Be better able to work

• This will contribute to family income

Grow a garden

• Provides affordable and a variety of foods

LIFESTYLE AND CHRONIC DISEASES:

Healthy lifestyle

• Do not smoke or take excessive alcohol
• Go to the clinic if you have chronic headaches or  body weakness
• Comply with the prescribed treatment if you are diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes, epilepsy or asthma
• Take your treatment every day
• Collect your treatment every month at the clinic
• Going to work with uncontrolled hypertension, diabetes or epilepsy pose a safety risk to yourself and your team

MALARIA

• What are the Symptoms of Malaria
• How can we prevent malaria?
• How can Barberton mines help with the prevention and treatment of malaria?

What is malaria?

• A parasitic disease transmitted by Anopheles mosquitos.
• Between 300 and  500 million cases are reported each year world wide.
• Kills in the region of  2 million people in Africa each year.
• 60% of deaths occur in children under the age of 5.

When are you most at risk?

• From dusk to dawn.

What are the symptoms?

Takes up to 2 weeks after being bitten by an infected mosquito to develop symptoms. These are:

• General flu symptoms.
• Headache.
• Fever – hot and cold sweats.
• Painful joints.
• Sometimes vomiting or diarrhea.
• Severe cases can experience convulsions or coma.

What to do if you suspect you have malaria?

• Seek immediate medical attention
• Ensure that a blood smear test is carried out.
• Repeat blood smear until malaria is diagnosed or another illness that explains the symptoms is confirmed.
• Do not treat yourself at home.
• Finish complete course of medication prescribed.
• Often the drugs will make you feel worse initially – return to your doctor if side effects are severe.

Remember, complicated or severe malaria may require hospitalisation.

How to prevent malaria?

• Stay indoors from dusk to dawn.
• Wear long sleeves and trousers.
• Mosquito-proof accommodation.
• Insect screens on doors and windows.
• Residual insecticide on doors and inside walls.
• Air-conditioning/fans.
• Use insect repellants.
• Use bednets.
• Destroy breeding areas (standing water).