The effects of drug use on high school students and its correlation to educational achievement hhs4m submitted to: mrs. The room is well lit with wrap around windows allowing light to fill the entire space. The classroom overlooks the original school building on the right, and the landmark big the room’s walls are covered with posters, maps, and general classroom information such as: pc and art. It is reckoned that we consume in excess of 5 billion litres of alcohol annually this figure is likely to be higher still if sorghum beer is included, and equates to 9 10 litres of pure alcohol per person. According to a world health organization who report released in 2011, this is among the highest per capita consumption rates in the world, and it is continuing to rise. More alarming still is that the who awards south africa a score of 4 drinking 5 or more beers or glasses of wine at one sitting for men, and more than 3 drinks for women out of 5 on a least risky to most risky patterns of drinking scale x2013 the higher the score, the greater the alcohol attributable burden of disease for the country.

The cost to the fiscus, x2018 that relates to absenteeism, poor productivity, high job turnover, interpersonal conflict and injuries and damage to property, is reckoned to be around r9 billion per year, equivalent to 1% of gdp x2019. Alcoholism among youth is a particular concern, 4 given that at least half of sa x2019 s population are categorised as young people, under 35. Reasons for use and misuse of alcohol include peer pressure and a desire to fit in, poor home environs and boredom, ignorance of alcohol x2019 s harms, and the relative cheapness of alcohol products and their ease of access. And in sa, alcohol is easily purchased from bottle stores, supermarkets, bars and shebeens and other unlicensed liquor outlets, which outnumber licensed ones, particularly in disadvantaged communities. Many countries, of which the uk is but one, lament their own experience of harmful drinking by youngsters. A recent uk report extensively reviews the vulnerability of youth to alcohol x2019 s harms.

Easily appreciated hard effects are acute alcohol poisoning and liver disease, uk hospitals regularly describing patients in their early 20s with alcohol related hepatitis, and women with cirrhosis by the time they are 30. 7 then there are injury, often as a result of assault, and unprotected sex leading to high levels of teenage pregnancy and risk of contracting std, including, in sa, hiv. Softer outcomes include the physical appetite changes, weight loss, eczema, headaches and the behavioural sleep disturbance, poor school and college performance, failure to form and maintain friendships, tendency to depression and/or aggressive behaviour, and greater likelihood of experimenting with cannabis and other illegal substances. 6 less well appreciated, perhaps, is that the adolescent brain, which is still growing, is especially vulnerable to alcohol x2019 s toxic effects, with risk of cognitive deficits, poor executive functioning and poor long term memory. 8 what is to be done? there have been a number of educational initiatives and attempts on the part of both governmental and non governmental organisations to mitigate the effects of boredom and social deprivation in our communities, yet the problem of alcohol misuse persists.

Recently the minister of health has suggested a ban on alcohol advertising and sponsorship he wishes also to raise the age of legal alcohol consumption from the present 18 to 21. A similar case for a uk advertising ban was made by the british medical association in 2009, 9 although without result. Our minister x2019 s stance is based on the reduction in smoking that followed the ban on tobacco advertising, 10 one of the principal aims of the tobacco products control amendment act of october 20 having been to x2018 reduce the pressure on young people to begin a lifelong tobacco addiction at age 15 and younger. The public health case for the minister x2019 s proposed ban is presented by parry and colleagues, 11 who cite evidence that advertising sets out to deliberately target young people, while the early age at which our youth begin drinking, and the harms that ensue, are amply captured in the analysis by ramsoomar and morojele. 12 the minister will hope to exploit the evidence 6 that delaying a young person x2019 s first drink will prevent development of harmful drinking habits. The impact on sa x2019 s youth, so many of whom lead socially and economically deprived lives, may however prove disappointing.

Prepared for the who/undcp regional consultation x2013 global initiative on primary prevention of substance abuse among young people, harare, zimbabwe, 24 26 february 1998. Under the influence x2013 the damaging effect of alcohol marketing on young people. W.bma.org.uk/health_promotion_ethics/alcohol/undertheinfluence.jsp accessed 3 may 2012 10. Trends in alcohol prevalence, age of initiation and association with alcohol related harm among south african youth: implications for policy. Hiv drug treatment in south africa the topic of this research paper is hiv drug treatment in south africa.

Beside preventive measure, there are a number of treatments that are being used by the health care institutions to fight against hiv. Drug treatment is considered to be an effective treatment among all the hiv treatment being carried out in south africa. This research papers will discuss the significant drugs used to cure the symptoms of hiv. This literature review presented in the paper focus on finding significant data regarding effective hiv drug used for treating the patients of hiv. It also highlights the side effects of these drugs and mention ways of making the hiv drug treatment as safe as possible. Hiv is an important health concern as about a million of people are infected annually by this pandemic. africa is disproportionately bearing the weight of hiv/aids epidemic. The population of africa forms 11 percent of the world’s total population and about 67 percent of the people infected by hiv are living in africa.

About 22.4 million population of africa is infected by hiv virus and about 1.9 million new hiv cases were reported in the year 2008. About 10 million african children lost their parent because of hiv, in the last year. However according to statistics south africa is the worst hiv affected part of this continent. about 10 percent of the population of zambia, swaziland, namibia, lesotho, botswana and zimbabwe, is affected by hiv virus. In the sub saharan part of africa the hiv patients acquire half of the beds present at any hospitals. In the years 1990 2005 about 17 percent of the health work force was lost because of this killer virus.