Abstract:
Much is written about the transfer of technology from
developed to developing countries. In the area of health
care, not only the issue of poverty within the developing
countries is there but also the pattern and epidemiology
of disease that can be very different. South Africa is in a
unique position in which it has an affluent middle class
with access to some of the best health care that can be
bought; however, there is also much poverty that affects
the majority of the population. Access to health care may
depend on a number of factors including the educational
level and expectations of the patients themselves.
South Africa suffered the epidemic of HIV/AIDS later
than eastern Africa, but now has some of the highest rates
of HIV infection in the world with no clear evidence of
the present epidemic abating. In addition, tuberculosis
(TB) has re-emerged, a disease that was earlier thought
to have been declined. Coexistent infection often with
multidrug-resistant TB, and HIV has become, for many,
the defining illness in southern Africa in the early 21st
century. Therefore, in the scenario where resources are
limited such as South Africa, is there a place for an expensive
high technology tool such as PET? Is PET essential
for these patients or is it seen as an extravagance, which
should be reserved only for the rich.
