An overview of occupational medicine and health services and associated challenges in southern Africa

Abstract

This paper is an account of Dr Dingani Moyo’s knowledge and experience regarding the status and key challenges of occupational medicine (OM) and health services in southern Africa. It builds on two previous publications on the organisation of occupational health and safety in southern Africa.1,2 Dr Moyo draws from his working experience in Africa, providing occupational health (OH) technical expertise in the region, conducting training in OM, heading the OSHAfrica Scientific Committee: Education and Compentency Improvement, lecturing at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and the Midlands State University in Zimbabwe, and being a member of the Executive Committee of the South African Society of Occupational Medicine (SASOM). He was involved in the establishment and operationalisation of 10 OH service centres in seven southern African countries, under the Global Fund’s TB in the Mining Sector (TIMS) project;3 training of mine and labour inspectors, doctors and nurses on the World Bank’s Southern African Tuberculosis and Health Systems Support (SATBHSS) project in four southern African countries;4 and the establishment of two OH clinics in Zimbabwe, under the USAID-funded Kunda-Nqob’iTB (KN-TB) project.5 Having worked predominantly in mines in Botswana and Zimbabwe, and as head of the OSHAfrica Scientific Committee: Education and Competency Improvement, Dr Moyo has extensive experience in Africa and, more specifically, in southern Africa. Dr Moyo is a member of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM)’s Training and Marketing Committee. In writing this paper, he also draws on his experiences as past board member and national secretary for Zimbabwe of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH).