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Mail & Guardian
south african medical research councillatest news & developments
In recent years, research Wright and colleagues led has highlighted how prolonged heat exposure places outdoor workers, children, older people and low-income communities at increased risk of dehydration, heat stress, respiratory illness and other adverse health outcomes. The risks are expected to intensify as temperatures continue to rise. (Envato Elements)
CARADEE WRIGHT

SA launches first climate and health surveillance platform

The tool allows researchers and policymakers to track links between extreme weather, heatwaves, flooding and health outcomes

  • Sheree Bega
8 min read
Futile exercise: The writer argues that even if higher education were to digitalise their systems, it would still not help contain the influx of first year students at the too few institutions, including 26 universities. Photo: Supplied
BLACKBOARD

Digitisation not panacea for varsity space

Any talk about scaling up digitalisation of higher education as a solution to the large demand for access to the university must fiercely confront the structural challenges that…

  • Mlamuli Hlatshwayo
7 min read
High consumption of sugary drinks is associated with risks such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes. (Toby Talbot/Associated Press)
ADVERTISING REGULATORY BOARD

Our advertising regulator is funded by the food and beverage industry. Should it be allowed to block public health messaging?

A pending court complaint alleges bias after the regulator voted to block radio advertisements about the dangers of sugar

  • Ashley Okwuosa
13 min read
To end Aids by 2043, the South African government says it could get a group of local pharmaceutical companies to make generic shots of lenacapavir from 2027 onwards. There is, however, a hitch. None of the companies that will be involved have a licence to make the jab. (Julia Koblitz/ Unsplash)
AARON MOTSOALEDI

SA wants to make its own six-monthly HIV prevention jabs by 2027. But there’s a hitch

None of the companies that will be involved have a licence from the inventor of Lenacapavir, Gilead Sciences, to make the jab

  • Mia Malan
9 min read
Demanding change: Women across South Africa are stepping back from work on Friday to draw attention to the country’s rising levels of gender-based violence. This comes as heads of state, ministers and delegations arrive in South Africa for the G20 summit. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy
DESMOND TUTU FOUNDATION

National shutdown to put spotlight on gender violence on eve of G20 summit

Advocacy group Women for Change argues that South Africa ‘cannot host the world’s most powerful leaders while a woman is killed every two-and-a-half hours’

  • Hasina Kathrada
6 min read
MALARIA RESEARCH

Southern Africa through the South African Medical Research Council marks a decade of malaria research and collaboration

As Southern Africa works toward the World Health Organization’s goal of eliminating malaria by 2030, the region continues to face major challenges, including cross-border…

  • Mr Tendani Tsedu and Ms Yolanda Phakela
2 min read
Doctors will need to pay attention not only to a patient’s physical health but also the person’s emotional, social and psychospiritual aspects.
CANCER

National Health Insurance system will mean little if we don’t offer the right kind of care

Although the NHI offers much-needed reform, it must find a new way to care for patients – an approach that treats people emotionally, physically, socially, psychologically and…

  • Shadrick Mazaza
5 min read
South Africa must treat the conditions that breed diabetes, including by making healthy food affordable. Photo: File
DIABETES

Diabetes in South Africa: the need for evidence-based science and decisive leadership

Diabetes has become one of South Africa’s most pressing public health issues. We desperately need evidence-based science and decisive leadership to address this mounting crisis

  • Nireshni Chellan
4 min read
Wonder tree: The goal of the trial is to determine whether baobab fruit powder can improve gut integrity, lower inflammation, and positively impact blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
ACCESS AND BENEFIT SHARING ABS COMPLIANT BIO TRADE IN SOUTHERN AFRICA PROJECT

Can baobab fruit powder improve gut and heart health in people with obesity?

SAMRC trial will help to expand knowledge on the matter

  • Dr Sylvia Riedel
3 min read
Vaccines are not just medicine. They are mirrors. They show us who we are, what we value and whose lives we’re willing to protect.
ACCEPTANCE OF VACCINES

The role of qualitative research in addressing vaccine hesitancy: lessons for public health in South Africa

Conducting qualitative research takes time and effort, but it interrogates essential contexts and meanings that shape our health and healthcare

  • Dr Sara Cooper and Professor Mark Engel
5 min read
Professor Ntobeko Ntusi, SAMRC President and CEO.
DOCTOR TO PATIENT RATIO

The state of health in South Africa: Reflections and future directions

While progress has been made in some sectors, there are critical gaps in the healthcare infrastructure

  • Professor Ntobeko Ntusi
4 min read
Preeclampsia is a rising threat to maternal and infant health. Urgent investment in genetic research and early detection could save thousands of lives
CAESAREAN DELIVERIES

The case for developing alternative maternity care models in SA 

The development and implementation of new, hospital-based birthing centres with team-based maternity care models offer a promising solution

  • Professor Tanya Doherty and Geetesh Solanki
4 min read
NATIONAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION

NRF Women in Leadership

These women are contributing to the advancement of the NRF’s mandate and driving its vision in service of a better society

  • National Research Foundation
17 min read
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana did not announce a budget allocation to plug the gap created by the termination of USAid funding to HIV/Aids organisations (Photo by Luke Dray/Getty Images)
BRILLIANT

SA leads HIV/Aids vaccine discovery research team

USAID has pumped $45 million in grant funding to support the work of a consortium of top African scientists from eight countries

  • Lyse Comins
3 min read
South African Medical Research Council president and chief executive Glenda Gray is stepping down to take up a full-time scientific role.
COVID 19

Glenda Gray steps down from South African Medical Research Council

Gray is the first female president and chief executive of the council and served as the chairperson of the research committee on Covid-19

  • Lyse Comins
2 min read
ANXIETY

Can technology help to promote students’ mental health?

New apps and online therapy show promise, but more research is needed to help understand who will benefit from digital interventions

  • Jason Bantjes
  • Xanthe Hunt
5 min read
Bleak: Many families, especially in poor areas, such as the rural Eastern Cape, are struggling to pay for funerals for their loved ones. Photos: Paul Botes
AQUAMATION

Cost of funerals in South Africa a grave concern

With the cost of living rising, many families can’t afford to bury their loved ones and assistance is needed

  • Eunice Masson
6 min read
(Photo by Mahmoud Issa/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
AAAH COALITION

New era of health science for Africa as NantSA launches vaccine-manufacturing campus

The first locally manufactured Covid-19 vaccine from the new facility, which is based in Cape Town, is expected within the next year

  • Eunice Masson
3 min read
Relief: A man uses fans spraying air mixed with water vapour to cool down in a street in Iraq’s capital Baghdad during June’s severe heat wave. Photo: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images
ALS PARAMEDICS

South Africa unprepared for intense heatwaves of the next 20 years

Garrith Jamieson and his paramedic colleagues were on high alert days before a scorching heatwave struck Durban earlier this month. With the mercury expected to soar to 40°C and…

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read
South Africa’s landfill sites are in a terrible state and if drastic measures are not taken, the country will soon drown in its own waste. (Andy Mkosi)
AIR POLLUTION

It’s time to clean up South Africa’s polluted air

Families in areas of Mpumalanga have to choose between work and health, but new WHO air quality guidelines say the time to act is now

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read