Background In South Africa, cervical cancer is the second most prevalent cancer. Amidst the disease’s prevalence is the presence of Intimate Partner Violence in South Africa, which could impair the ability of women to undergo cervical cancer screening. Thus, illustrating its negative implications on health-seeking behavior. This study examined if, and how intimate partner violence among women aged between 15 and 49 years is associated with cervical cancer screening. Methods The study used cross-sectional data from the South Africa Demographic and Health Survey conducted in 2016. The population of interest was women aged between 15 and 49 years that underwent cervical cancer screening. Bivariate analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between cervical cancer screening and each of the study’s independent variables. Finally, a binary regression model was used to determine the association between intimate partner violence and cervical cancer screening among women aged between 15 and 49 years, whilst controlling for other variables. Results The study found that 39% of women aged between 15 and 49 years underwent cervical cancer screening in South Africa at least once in their lifetime. Women that experienced intimate partner violence were more likely to undergo cervical cancer screening compared to women that did not experience intimate partner violence (UOR: 1.33; p < 0.05; CI: 1.07–1.65 and AOR: 1.46; p < 0.05; CI: 1.14–1.86). Area of residence, age, educational attainment, province, wealth quantile, ethnicity, number of sex partners, frequency of cigarette smoking, contraception, and health insurance were also found to be statistically associated with cervical cancer screening. Conclusion The study contributed to our understanding of predictors of cervical cancer screening in South Africa, particularly the association between intimate partner violence and cervical cancer screening. It found that women who experience intimate partner violence are more likely to undergo cervical cancer screening compared to women that do not experience intimate partner violence. This is because women who experience intimate partner violence are at greater risk of contracting cervical cancer. Thus, their need to undergo cervical cancer screening. This highlights the severity of intimate partner violence in South Africa and the health risks it poses to women, particularly regarding cervical cancer.

Background: South Africa is one of the most tuberculosis-burdened countries in the world. As an emerging economic powerhouse in the continent, the country’s highly industrialized landscape provides both opportunity and probable morbidity/mortality in a “developmental disease-induced paradox” wherein development provisions better quality of life for beneficiaries whilst simultaneously making them more susceptible to disease as a result thereof. This study examines the association between employment-based exposure to hazardous substances and tuberculosis diagnosis among men aged between 18 and 65 years in South Africa. Methods: The study used data from the South Africa Demography and Health Survey. It constituted a sample size of 1,532 working-age men between 18 and 65 years. Bivariate regression was used to examine the relationship between employment-based exposure to hazardous substances and diagnosis of tuberculosis. Thereafter, an adjusted binary regression model was employed to examine the relationship between employment-based exposure to hazardous substances and tuberculosis diagnosis while adjusting for covariates. Analysis was conducted in STATA 16.0. Results: The study found 7% of men that participated in the study were diagnosed with TB in South Africa. Both the unadjusted and adjusted models revealed that men who reported being exposed to hazardous substances such as smoke, dust, and fumes were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with tuberculosis compared to men that reported not being exposed to such hazardous substances at work (UOR: 2.15; p<0.05; CI: 1.44-3.19; AOR: 1.83; p<0.05; CI: 1.15-2.90). Variables such as age, province, ethnicity, educational attainment, and asthma were also found to be statistically associated with tuberculosis diagnosis among men who participated in the study. Conclusion: The study reveals that men of working age in South Africa are susceptible to a developmental disease-induced paradox linked to TB diagnosis, one in which industrialization and the opportunities it avails for populations increase their risk of disease. As such, companies operating in South Africa should employ improved health and safety regulations to better safeguard employees from TB diagnosis. Moreover, to better manage the burden of disease, the South African government should strengthen its health infrastructure to trace and treat men diagnosed with the disease to facilitate ongoing economic development.

Background There is an increased risk of cervical cancer among women living with HIV. While studies have long examined the association between cervical cancer among women with HIV, no study has examined the time taken for women with HIV to undergo cervical cancer screening as well as the hazard thereof in South Africa. Methods The study used cross-sectional data from the 2016 South Africa Demographic and Health Survey. To allow for longitudinal analysis and to address the issue of right-censoring, the data was reformatted to a person-data file. The selection criteria were limited to women living with HIV (WLHIV) who had also responded to the question on cervical cancer screening. Descriptive statistics were employed to show the levels of HIV among women aged 15 and older in South Africa. Additionally, Kaplan‒Meier curves were employed to investigate the time to CCS by WLHIV in South Africa. Thereafter, an unadjusted Cox hazards regression model was employed to examine the hazard of undergoing CCS among WLHIV. Last, it employed an adjusted model to examine the hazard of CCS among WLHIV while adjusting for other factors. Results Nineteen percent (n = 1,159) of the women who participated in the study tested positive for HIV. Herein, it was found that the risk of CCS among WLHIV began at the age of approximately 19 years. Thereafter, the hazard of undergoing CCS among WLHIV began to decrease at 58 years. There was a significant association between CCS and WLHIV. Additionally, several covariates were found to be significantly associated with HIV. These were race, province, area of residence, marriage, educational attainment, employment, alcohol consumption, perceived health perception, and health insurance. Conclusion The hazard of CCS was lower among WLHIV compared to WLHIV who did not undergo CCS in South Africa. This puts HIV-positive women at risk of increased morbidity and mortality from potential cervical cancer and HIV comorbidity due to CCS deficits within this group, as they are susceptible to HPV and subsequent cervical cancer due to a compromised immune system. HIV-positive women need to routinely undergo CCS every 12 months from baseline for 3 years. Thereafter, they should undergo CCS once every 3 years to reduce their risk of developing the disease.

This article takes stock of the state of intra-continental trade in Africa by reviewing trends in the continent’s five sub-regional trading blocs in terms of their strengths and shortcomings, in order to assess the continent’s trade efficiency on an intra-regional level ahead of the rollout of a continent-wide free trade area. Thereafter, the article assesses trade indicators seen over the past decade to illustrate the amount of goods traded to prognosticate the future of intra-continental trade on the continent in the wake of discussing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Implications for youth are cast in the wider imperatives of the continent’s developmental agenda and post-Covid-19 economic recovery.