Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Comprehensive & Cost Effective Laboratory Monitoring of HIV/AIDS: an African Role Model
Published on: October 31, 2010
Workforce development in South Africa with a focus on public health nutrition
Nelia P Steyn1, Xikombiso G Mbhenyane
1South African Medical Research Council, Tygerberg, Cape Town, South Africa. nelia.steyn@mrc.ac.za
Objectives:
The present paper aims to review and report on the current and predicted future public health nutrition workforce in South Africa. Additionally, it examines ways in which the Department of Health (DOH) is striving to meet the increasing burden of nutrition-related diseases in South Africa.
Methods:
The primary sources of data used for the review were reports from the Census office, South African health reviews, mortality and morbidity statistics, and documents from the Health Professions Council of South Africa.
Results:
There are fewer than 2000 registered dietitians in South Africa and fewer than 600 of them work in the public health sector. Furthermore, professional nurses - who are the backbone of the primary health-care system and deliver the rudiments of basic nutritional care - are not being trained in sufficient numbers to meet population growth; in 2004 there was only one nurse per 4000 persons. This situation is aggravated by the growing burden of conditions associated with both overnutrition and undernutrition, as well as the enormous demands of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The DOH is striving to meet these increasing needs by means of the Integrated Nutrition Programme as well as a National Human Resources Plan which includes numerous strategies to improve the quantity and quality of health professionals' training, including dietitians and nutritionists. This plan includes the objective of increasing the public health nutrition workforce to more than 250 newly trained dietitians and nutritionists per annum by 2010.
Related Concept Videos
Primary Healthcare Services
In 1978, international leaders convened in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, for what would be a pivotal event in global health. The Alma-Ata Declaration was the first to call...
International Nursing Organizations II
The WHO provides expert team support, including funding, vaccines, testing, and treatment tools at the country level to fight...
Levels of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention
In primary prevention, actions taken before disease onset prevent the disease from...
Models of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention II
The agent-host-environment model states that disease results from...
Models of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention I
The health belief model (HBM) attempts to predict health-related behavior in specific belief patterns. According to the HBM, a person's...
Methods Of Healthcare Delivery System
Managed Care System:
The managed care system is designed to control the cost while maintaining the quality of care. The patient's care from admission to discharge is planned by the primary care provider or the case manager, also known as the gatekeeper. In a managed care system, the number of care providers is limited...