-
Professor Frederik Booysen: Health and Health Care in the Time of COVID-19 and Beyond
Pandemics are rare events, events that fundamentally disrupt the social and economic fibre of societies. COVID-19, the first global public health crisis to hit the world in a century, holds far-reaching consequences, not only for our present health and well-being, but for health care and its delivery, organization and financing, now and into the future.
In this lecture, I first outline the pre-existing inequalities in the South African health care landscape. I then proceed to use various analyses and evidence to illustrate the pandemic’s likely implications for South Africans’ health and well-being, highlighting the likely role of emotional support in curbing the impending increase in the country’s mental health deficit. I round out the lecture by reflecting on the various policy implications of the pandemic and its longer-term impacts on society.
-
Professor Sumaya Laher: The 4I=R2 Framework: Advancing an agenda for psychological assessment in South Africa
The unprecedented rise in the use of technologies across all sectors during COVID-19 hastened South Africa's participation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). However access and distributional challenges in South Africa remain core concerns amidst a volatile and complex global context. Psychology and psychological assessment in particular requires a rethinking within this time and space. This lecture will present a brief history of assessment internationally and locally to contextualize the need for a 4I=R2 framework for assessment in South Africa.
The 4I=R2 framework affords an opportunity for the discipline to advance beyond traditional assessment practices where the 4 I’s of Inclusion, Indigenisation, Innovation and Impact was discussed as necessary components for a relevant and responsive discipline. In so doing the lecture presented evidence where traditional forms of assessment are evolving in line with social contexts and technological developments. The extent to which this aids in addressing challenges in the South African assessment landscape with regards to theory, research, policy and practice was discussed together with what still needs to be done to meet the 4I=R2 vision.
-
Professor Marianne Cronje Metallated Complexes & Apoptosis: New bullets in our chemotherapeutic arsenal?
Cancer is a growing burden in Africa. By 2040, it is estimated that cancer incidence will more than double in Sub-Saharan Africa, and that more than twice as many cancer deaths will occur in low- and middle-income countries compared to upper-income countries. Worldwide, cancer causes more deaths than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined, and the global burden is estimated to be 27 million new cancer cases in 2050. Cancer represents a significant and under-appreciated public health problem in Africa.
Most chemotherapeutic agents result in severe side-effects and eventual resistance to treatment. Thus, finding alternative compounds that are target-specific, highly effective yet easy to manufacture and available at low cost remains urgent and important. An overview of our endeavours this past decade will provide further insight into the selective targeting of cell death with metallated compounds in cancer cells and support our belief that these are promising additions to the arsenal of chemotherapeutics.
