G u e s t
E d i t o r i a l

P h y s i o t h e r a p y  i n  A f r i c a  a t  t h e  
B r i n k  o f  t h e  2 1 st C e n t u r y .

P
hysiotherapy in A frica has com e a 
long way in the 20th century. We 
su cceed ed  in esta b lish in g  the 
im portance o f the profession in the deli­
very o f health care services. We also made 

significant in-roads in health prom otion 
and com m unity based rehabilitation. In 
the last year o f the last decade o f this 
century, we need to look back in order to 
em pow er ourselves fo r the future.

Once, we assum ed the success o f our 
treatm ent was ensured with our clients 
p a ssively involved. However, the success 
o f ph ysio th erap y  dem ands increasing 
active participation by the client. Once, 
infant mortality rate was very high. This 
has greatly im proved that the increasing

num ber o f o lder persons is now a chal­
lenge. This year is the International Year 
o f O lder Persons, and the focus is on 
H e a lth y  A g in g . U n fo rtu n a te ly , the 
increasing num ber o f people infected 
with the HIV virus threatens the increase 
o f life expectancy. O nce, congenital fac­
tors contributed mostly to physical dis­
abilities. Currently, physical disabilities 
are acquired as a result o f increasing rate 
o f violence, wars, m otor-vehicle acci­
dents, industrial accidents, etc. The role 
o f p h y sio th erap y  in reh a b ilitatio n  in 
these and other areas o f challenge cannot 
be overem phasised.

With these challenges, the curative, 
preventive and prom otive roles o f p h y ­

sio th erap y  m ust be em ph asised . The 
African culture o f ubunthu in w hich we 
freely share life should propel us to share 
o ur expertise and experience with one 
another, other professions, and the inter­
national world. In this issue o f the South 
A frican Journal o f Physiotherapy, our 
rich A frican heritage o f ubunthu makes 
us to freely share inform ation about few 
o f the challenges to physiotherapy in 
A frica. C ollectively, we can overcom e 
these challenges and m uch m ore in the 
next century.

DELE AMOSUN 
Member, Editorial Board

REVIEW ERS T H A N K  Y O U
The editorial board wants to thank the follow ing persons who review ed articles for the South A frican Journal o f Physiotherapy in
1998. W ithout your im put we w ould not have been able to produce a jou rn al o f such diversity and quality.

R Bester L H unter
S De Charm oy L Jacobs
P de Witt M M orrell
I D iener T Paulsen
C Eksteen J Potterton
K Erm ann M Riley
M Farquharson G Shead
M Faure T  Skinstad
L Fearnhead J Sklaar
L Hale A Stew art
J Hendry M van der Velde

We intend to publish a list o f review ers who have contributed annually.

2 S A  Jo u r n a l  o f  Ph y s io t h e r a p y  1 9 9 9  V o l  5 5  N o  1

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