UKZN professor contributes to international Sustainable Development Goals study
THE University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is proud to announce its first cohort of nine fellows under the auspices of Developing Research Innovation, Localisation and Leadership in South Africa (DRILL), a project funded to the tune of R45 million over a 5 year period by the United States Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The grant, which was awarded in 2015, is aimed at funding the training of 20 junior researchers from UKZN and the KZN Department of Health, with the aim of producing world-class scientists who will lead and direct research programmes designed around real world problems outside the Metropolitan areas. The new fellows will prioritise health research that is underpinned by the philosophy of social accountability in the scientific areas of Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/Aids), Mental Health, Health Professions’ Education and Health Systems Research.
It is envisaged that the fellows will also be trained for success in academic positions at UKZN with a strong developmental plan that would prepare them to apply for an NRF rating and academic promotion. Speaking at the DRILL launch event recently held at the Coastlands Musgrave Hotel, Professor Moses Chimbari – College of Health Sciences (CHS) Dean of Research said, “It is my hope that the fellows will use the platform to succeed in academia and research but most importantly that they will aim to succeed their mentors as strong, competent leaders in their fields.”
Two of the new fellows will focus on Health Systems strengthening and they are Dr Euphemia Mbali Mhlongo and Varsha Bangalee. Mhlongo’s study will assess the progress towards the goals of the National Health Insurance (NHI) in the two pilot districts in KwaZulu-Natal, specifically the factors which enable or hamper progress.
Bangalee, a pharmacist; will focus on the use, benefit and applicability of Health Technology Assessments with regard to pharmaceutical pricing; policy monitoring and development; and decision making.
In the scientific track of HIV/Aids; three new fellowships were awarded to medical doctor Thabile Wendy Mphatswe, medical scientist Dr Jacobus Hendricks and pathologist Dr Bongani Nkambule.
Awarded a fellowship within the area of Health Professions’ Education are UKZN academics Diane van Staden and Saul Cobbing. Trained as an optometrist van Staden’s research is aimed at developing a planning framework for a decentralized model of training in health sciences within the South African context whilst Cobbing’s physiotherapy research project aims to design and implement the multidisciplinary training of community health care workers and maximise their effectiveness at carrying out general rehabilitative assessment and services in the homes of People Living with HIV in an underserved district of KwaZulu-Natal.
Two fellows will be researching in the field of Mental Health and they are Dr Lihle Qulu and Dr Thabisile Mpofana.
Professor Rob Slotow, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Head of the CHS congratulated the new fellows but reminded them of the importance of excelling in all they do. “Do not be mediocre. Mediocrity doesn’t help. You need to find a way to excel in all that you do. We wish you all the best!” EPIDEMIOLOGIST at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and Global Burden of Disease (GBD) collaborator, Professor Benn Sartorius, has contributed to a large scale study with 188 nations that provides a better understanding of progress made by countries in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
Recent findings of the study, published in the prestigious journal The Lancet revealed that countries making little progress in reaching the goals were mainly those in Africa.
The study, titled: “Measuring the Health-related Sustainable Development Goals in 188 Countries: a Baseline Analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015”, analysed each country’s progress towards achieving health-related SDG targets by creating an overall SDG Index score. Countries were then ranked by their scores to show which nations are closest to achieving the targets. A nation’s SDG index score is based on a scale of 0 to 100 with 100 indicating the most progress made.
Iceland tops the list with a score of 85 while the lowestscoring nation at 20 is the Central African Republic. The United States has a score of 75, just behind Slovenia, Greece, and Japan, all at 76. South Africa scored 46 and ranked 134 out of the 188 countries.
Sartorius said significant strides made in health included expanded health coverage, greater access to family planning, and fewer deaths of newborns and children under the age of 5. However, childhood obesity, alcohol consumption, and death caused by violence continued to be significant hurdles many nations were facing as the world reached the end of the first year of the 15-year goals.
Said Sartorius: “This important study suggests that large health gains are being achieved. However, policy makers and other stakeholders need to keep their foot on the gas so to speak to ensure that the ambitious 2030 SDG targets are attained. In some low income settings – especially sub-Saharan Africa – current trajectories are lagging behind for certain key indicators and these settings need to up the ante if they are to successfully attain these ambitious goals.”
Professor of Global Health at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, and lead author of study, Dr Stephen Lim said, “We have concrete examples of countries making important progress on a range of healthrelated SDG indicators, we now need to look to those countries that have seen strong progress to find out what they are doing right and how it can be applied more broadly.”
The GBD is the largest and most comprehensive epidemiological effort to quantify health loss across places and over time. The GBD enterprise – now consisting of more than 1 800 researchers and policymakers in nearly 130 nations and territories – is coordinated by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.