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Health

The focus of RESEP health research is on the demand side and understanding healthcare from the perspective of the patient. RESEP has invested in training young researchers and developing the first health economics elective for Economics graduate students.

Publications: Health

Longitudinal changes in COVID-19 vaccination intent among South African adults: evidence from the NIDS-CRAM panel survey, February to May 2021

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has threatened the ability of many countries worldwide to contain the pandemic. Given the severe impact of the pandemic in South Africa and disruptions to the roll-out of the vaccine in early 2021, slower-than-expected uptake is a pressing public health challenge in the country. We examined longitudinal changes in COVID-19 vaccination intent among South African adults, as well as determinants of intent to receive a vaccine.

April 22, 2022 By: Ronelle Burger, Timothy Köhler, Aleksandra Golos, Alison Buttenheim, René English, Michele Tameris & Brendan Maughan-Brown PDF

The health impact of free access to antiretroviral therapy in South Africa

Since 2004 the South African government has rolled out free antiretroviral therapy (ART) at public health care facilities nationwide. No prior studies have estimated the impact of the ART rollout on health and survival using a longitudinal household survey with national coverage.

April 22, 2022 By: Cobus Burger, Ronelle Burger, & Eddy van Doorslaer PDF

The Economics of Health in South Africa

The remnants of the colonial and apartheid era are evident in the South African health system’s persistently higher levels of injury, mental health problems, disease and mortality amongst the poor and marginalized—mediated through a wide range of social determinants including environmental health factors such as hygiene, access to clean water, clean air and adequate sanitation, violent crime and trauma, occupational risk, alcohol abuse and tobacco dependence.

April 22, 2021 By: Ronelle Burger & Mosima Ngwenya PDF

Cost and cost-effectiveness of a universal HIV testing and treatment intervention in Zambia and South Africa: evidence and projections from the HPTN 071 (PopART) trial

The HPTN 071 (PopART) trial showed that a combination HIV prevention package including universal HIV testing and treatment (UTT) reduced population-level incidence of HIV compared with standard care. However, evidence is scarce on the costs and cost-effectiveness of such an intervention.

April 22, 2021 By: Ranjeeta Thomas, William Probert, Rafael Sauter, Lawrence Mwenge, Surya Singh, Sarah Kanema, Nosivuyile Vanqa, Abigail Harper, Ronelle Burger, Anne Cori, Michael Pickles, Nomtha Bell-Mandla, Blia Yang, Justin Bwalya, Mwelwa Phiri, Kwame Shanaube, Sian Floyd, Deborah Donnell, Peter Bock, Prof Helen Ayles, Sarah Fidler, Richard J Hayes, Christophe Fraser, Katharina Hauck PDF

Who is more likely to return for TB test results? A survey at three high-burden primary healthcare facilities in Cape Town, South Africa

In low- and middle-income countries with a high burden of tuberculosis (TB), a large proportion of people who are tested for TB do not return to the health facility to collect their test results and initiate treatment, thus putting themselves at increased risk of adverse outcomes.

April 22, 2021 By: Ronelle Burger, Judy Caldwell, Mareli Claassens, Khanya Mama, Pren Naidoo, Matthias Rieger, Laura Rossouw, Eddy van Doorslaer, Adam Wagstaff PDF

Testing an Incentive-Based and Community Health Worker Package Intervention to Improve Maternal Health and Nutrition Outcomes: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

In order to address South Africa’s maternal and infant mortality and morbidity rates, patient and community-level preventable factors need to be identified and addressed. However, there are few rigorously implemented and tested studies in low- and middle-income countries that evaluate the impact of community-level interventions on maternal and infant health outcomes.

April 22, 2021 By: Laura Rossouw, Rulof Burger, & Ronelle Burger PDF

Underrepresentation of developing country researchers in development research

We present evidence of how researchers from developing countries are represented in three areas of research: conference presentations, articles in journals, and citations. We find that the bulk of research on development and development policies in the South is conducted by researchers from the North.

April 22, 2021 By: Verónica Amarante, Ronelle Burger, Grieve Chelwa, John Cockburn, Ana Kassouf, Andrew McKay, & Julieta Zurbrigg PDF

Changing Inequalities in Health-Adjusted Life Expectancy by Income and Race in South Africa

Trends in socioeconomic-related health inequalities is a particularly pertinent topic in South Africa where years of systematic discrimination under apartheid bequeathed a legacy of inequalities in health outcomes. We use three nationally representative datasets to examine trends in income- and race-related inequalities in life expectancy (LE) and health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE) since the beginning of the millennium.

April 22, 2021 By: Caryn Bredenkamp, Ronelle Burger, Alyssa Jourdan, & Eddy van Doorslaer PDF

Examining the impact of WHO’s Focused Antenatal Care policy on early access, underutilisation and quality of antenatal care services in Malawi: a retrospective study

Mchenga, M., Burger, R. and von Fintel, D., 2019. Examining the impact of WHO’s Focused Antenatal Care policy on early access, underutilisation and quality of antenatal care services in Malawi: a retrospective study. BMC health services research, 19(1), p.295.

An Incentive-Based and Community Health Worker Package Intervention to Improve Early Utilization of Antenatal Care: Evidence from a Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial

Rossouw, L., Burger, R.P. and Burger, R., 2019. An Incentive-Based and Community Health Worker Package Intervention to Improve Early Utilization of Antenatal Care: Evidence from a Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial. Maternal and child health journal, 23(5), pp.633-640.

November 12, 2019 By: Ronelle Burger, Rulof Burger, Laura Rossouw PDF