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A study was made of stress factors experienced by primary school teachers in Zambia after they had attended a course on stress management and counselling skills. Their pupils were significantly affected by poverty, death and illness of parents, fellow-pupils and teachers, teenage sex and pregnancy, violence in the home and, among girls, low self-esteem. The HIV epidemic had a major bearing on these factors, and there were wide-ranging effects on the teachers' own lives. Despite the training they had been given, many teachers felt that they could not adequately counsel their pupils on these matters. The teachers were in need of continuing support and training to enable them to cope with this aspect of their work

A comparative study of the attitudes and performances of graduates from an innovative medical school and a conventional one in relation to primary health care (PHC) was conducted. The aim was to identify the impact of a community-oriented medical education. The results showed that both groups were aware of PHC but those of the innovative school had received practical training in PHC centres, had skills to approach solving community problems, and gave due emphasis to promotional and preventive aspects of patient management. The study concludes that a community-oriented medical education is more appropriate to community needs [Author's abstract]