The Standing Committee on Health was established in 2011 and meets regularly to provide input to the Academy’s various health-related activities.
Latest Activities
Implementation of Core Competencies for MNS use Disorders
The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) has a strong focus on health issues of the nation and through its convening influence, hosted a workshop on The Implementation of Core Competencies for Mental, Neurological and Substance Use Disorders on 27 – 28 May 2014 in Johannesburg. The workshop was attended by stakeholders from government (national and provincial), academia, non-government organisations (NGOs), civil society organisations (CSOs) and professional association/council representatives. This report is the summary of the workshop proceedings which took place from 27 – 28 May 2014 at the Holiday Inn Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa. The workshop was entitled: Implementation of Core Competencies for Mental, Neurological and Substance Use (MNS) Disorders.
Title: Proceedings of an Academy of Science of South Africa Workshop on Implementation of Core Competencies for Mental, Neurological and Substance use Disorders.
Published by: Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
Publication date: September 2014
Publication Type: Proceedings Report
Aims/Objectives: The key objectives of the workshop held in Johannesburg were: to identify and discuss the key challenges in the implementation of core competencies for MNS disorders; and to explore the best strategies and opportunities that can be adapted by the different stakeholders for effective implementation of these core competencies.
Collaborators: Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM)
Full report: PDF
Tobacco Control in Africa
Tobacco is estimated to kill up to one of every two users, with no other risk factor carrying such a high mortality rate, and costs more than half a trillion dollars in economic damages annually. As the use of tobacco has declined in high-income countries, the tobacco industry has increasingly turned to low and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe, to recruit new users. Without comprehensive tobacco prevention and control policies, it is estimated that smoking prevalence in the African region will increase by nearly 39% by 2030, from 15.8% in 2010 to 21.9% – the largest expected regional increase globally. Increasing prevalence, combined with sustained economic growth and changing population dynamics, could drive tobacco consumption in Africa to double within the next ten years with devastating effects on health, development efforts, and economic growth in African countries. ASSAf collaborated with the United States Institute of Medicine (IOM) as well as science academies in Africa on the topic of tobacco control in Africa. This report presents the committee’s evidence-based recommendations for tobacco control in Africa. It outlines strategies that should place tobacco control policy on the African leadership agenda.
Title: Preventing a Tobacco Epidemic in Africa: A Call for Effective Action to Support Health, Social, and Economic Development
Published by: Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
Publication date: March 2014
Publication Type: Evidence-based Report
Aims/Objectives: It outlines strategies that should place tobacco control policy on the African leadership agenda, and also calls upon other groups, such as civil society organizations, to share in the responsibility of protecting those most vulnerable to misleading and deceitful messaging by the tobacco industry.
Collaborators: Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), and the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC)
Full report: PDF
Reconceptualising Health Professional Education and Training in South Africa
An outcome of a workshop on the Education of Health Professionals, held in July 2012 in Pretoria, was the recognition that there is need for a consensus view on the education and training of health professionals and other health care workers in South Africa to consolidate current efforts and enhance new efforts to address the severe quantitative and qualitative shortfall in the health workforce.
ASSAf was identified as the most appropriate body to undertake such a study. A consensus study proposal was developed and approved by the ASSAf Council. The study commenced in January 2014, with seed funding from the US Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) facilitated by the Stellenbosch University Rural Medical Education Partnership Initiative (SURMEPI). Efforts are underway to raise further funding for this study.
Previous Activities
2013
Consensus Study Improved Nutritional Assessment of Micronutrients
This consensus report highlights the important issues in nutritional assessment, the challenges and the findings. It offers recommendations that are evidence-based and have been evaluated carefully by the 11-member consensus study panel. The recommendations are for the optimal assessment of nutritional status of individuals and populations to be used in designing interventions that will improve nutritional status, health, human capacity and performance of the South African population.
Title: Consensus Study Improved Nutritional Assessment of Micronutrients
Published by: Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
Publication date: July 2013
Publication Type: Evidence-based and Consensus Report
Aims/Objectives: It is envisaged that the findings and recommendations of this study will impact on all policies within the relevant government departments whose mandates are aimed at improving food and nutrition security and health of all South Africans. It is also hoped that the relevant non-government institutions will implement the report’s important recommendations.
Collaborators: Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), United States National Academies (USNA) through their African Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI).
Full report: PDF
2011
Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Southern Africa
An estimated 2 billion people, one-third of the global population, are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb.), the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB). Exacerbating the devastation caused by TB is the growing threat of drug-resistant strains of the disease in many parts of the world. In recognition of the grave threat posed worldwide by drug-resistant TB, in November 2008 the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation held a workshop titled “Addressing the Threat of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: A Realistic Assessment of the Challenge,” which brought together experts in drug-resistant TB and public health to speak frankly and openly about the problem.
Title: The Emerging Threat of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Southern Africa: Global and Local Challenges and Solutions
Published by: The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
Publication date: 2011
Publication Type: Proceedings Report
Press Release: The Emerging Threat of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Southern Africa: Workshop Highlights
Collaborators: The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
Full report: PDF
Preparing for the Future of HIV/AIDS in Africa: A Shared Responsibility
In many African countries, where the burden of HIV/AIDS is the greatest in the world, the number of new infections is growing more rapidly than the availability of treatment. Unless this trend is reversed, HIV/AIDS can be expected to continue at a high rate of transmission for many decades to come. In this context, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) tasked a committee of experts to recommend affordable, sustainable strategies that both African nations and the United States can implement to address the long-term burden of HIV/AIDS.
Title: Preparing for the Future of HIV/AIDS in Africa: A Shared Responsibility
Published by: Institute of Medicine of the National Academies
Publication date: 2011
Publication Type: Evidence-based and Consensus Report
Collaborators: Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM) and the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
Full report: PDF
Workshop – GMO workshop (7 June 2011)
*Description
2010
Genetically Modified Organisms for African Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities
The two-day September 2009 scientific workshop was titled “GMOs for African Agriculture: Opportunities and Challenges”. Invited experts from seven different African countries (South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, Cameroon, Zimbabwe and Mauritius), as well as an expert from the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, attended the meeting to address issues concerning GMOs in agriculture.
Title: Workshop Proceedings Report GMOs for African Agriculture: Challenges and Ppportunities
Published by: Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
Publication date: July 2010
Publication Type: Proceedings Report
Aims/Objectives: This proceedings report is the product of a two-day workshop hosted by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) from 17-18 September 2009. ASSAf, to conduct a study on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): Opportunities and Challenges in Africa.
Collaborators: Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC) and the Uganda National Academy of Sciences (UNAS) and the InterAcademy Panel (IAP)
Full report: PDF
2009
Science in Action: Saving the lives of Africa’s mothers, newborns and children
This publication presents an overview of the current status of maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) in sub-Saharan Africa and reports a new analysis of how many lives could be saved if science translated into action through health systems. This publication was prepared for the Fifth Annual Meeting of the African Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI), hosted by the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences on 10-11 November 2009 as part of its 50th anniversary celebration. ASADI is a project funded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through the United States National Academies to strengthen African academies of sciences in advising their national governments on matters of science and technology. This report includes data for all of sub-Saharan Africa but focuses specifically on the seven countries participating in ASADI.
Title: Science in Action: Saving the lives of Africa’s mothers, newborns and children
Published by: Academy of Science of South Africa
Publication date: 2009
Publication Type: Evidence-based Report
Aims/Objectives: To provide and overview of the current status of maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) in sub-Saharan Africa and reports a new analysis of how many lives could be saved if science translated into action through health systems.
Collaborators: Cameroon Academy of Sciences (CAS), Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS), Kenya National Academy of Sciences (KNAS), Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS), National Academy of Science and Technology of Senegal (NASTS), Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), Uganda National Academy of Sciences (UNAS), and the Committee on Population of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
Full report: PDF
Clinical Research and Related Training in South Africa
This report provides a review of the overall state of clinical research in South Africa. At the initiation of the study, the Study Panel’s task was to review the existing scientific evidence regarding the current state of clinical research in South Africa.The review focused mainly on key clinical research issues as they were outlined in the brief.
Title: Concise version of Revitalising Clinical Research in South Africa: a Study on Clinical Research and Related Training in South Africa
Published by: Academy of Science of South Africa
Publication date: November 2009
Publication Type: Evidence Based- and Consensus Report
Aims/Objectives: The serious decline in clinical research activity and capacity has prompted this study by ASSAf in order to make recommendations on the overall revitalisation of clinical research in the country within the broad paradigm of essential national health research. An additional stimulus is the emphasis of government in its ten-year science and technology plan on the development of new medicines and other biologically useful agents (‘farmer to pharma’).
Collaborators: Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), United States National Academies (USNA), African Science Academies Development Initiative (ASADI), South African National Department of Science and Technology (DST).
Full report: PDF
2007
HIV/Aids, TB and Nutrition
This report; the second of its type published by the Academy; considers the influence of nutrition on two of the major disease epidemics currently affecting South Africa – tuberculosis and HIV infection. The research in this report highlights the starting recognition that the country is currently facing ‘three concurrent epidemics’. Two of these epidemics are caused by disease organisms – the human immunodeficiency virus and the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis – while the third, malnutrition, is the result of social, historical and political factors. In order to manage a response to these linked epidemics, the Study Panel was commissioned to review the scientific evidence that could provide an understanding of the dynamics of this tripartite interaction.
Title: HIV/AIDS, TB and Nutrition: Scientific inquiry into the nutritional influences on human immunity with special reference to HIV infection and active TB in South Africa
Published by: Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
Publication date: July 2007
Publication Type: Evidence-based Report
Full report: PDF