ISBN-13: 9783836431989 / Angielski / Miękka / 2007 / 104 str.
With the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Southern Africa maturing, more and morecritically ill patients are in desperate need for therapy. The health care workersare often caught between the overwhelming demand for care andobstacles caused by a lack of funds, confusing political messages and culturalbarriers. The author analyses the existing literature on dilemmas faced byhealth carers in HIV-care since the beginning of the epidemic in the early1980s. Nine interviews with nurses and doctors at an HIV treatment facilityin South Africas North West Province suggest that the burden by the highwork load and problems caused by culture and society are the main issuesthere. Whilst the hopelessness of the early years hospice care was eased bythe successes of the highly active antiretroviral treatment, health care workersnow feel left alone by government and management when they face theapocalyptic scale of the pandemic.Bringing the difficult situation of the health care workers in Southern Africainto attention, this book is written for those involved in the struggle againstHIV/AIDS: Doctors and nurses, hospital managers, health educators and politicaldecisionmakers.