Latest news with #UniversityofStellenbosch
The Citizen
30-06-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Policy Uncertainty Index drops slightly while global and local uncertainty remain
When economic policy uncertainty is strongly present in the environment, it lowers investment, employment and output. The Policy Uncertainty Index for the second quarter has decreased slightly but remains deep in negative territory as the global outlook remains uncertain despite the US promising to reduce tariffs on goods imported from South Africa. According to the NWU Business School Policy Uncertainty Index (PUI) for the second quarter, policy uncertainty eased to 75.9 compared to its record high of 78.6 in the first quarter of the year. The Index was launched in early 2016 and is published annually in January, April, July, and October. An increase beyond 50 reflects heightened policy uncertainty, while a decline means reduced uncertainty. The Policy Uncertainty Index is expressed as a net balance, representing the net outcome of positive and negative factors that influence the calibration of policy uncertainty. The three elements constituting the latest Policy Uncertainty Index show: The media data reflected a modest decline in references to policy uncertainty The survey of economists almost universally assessed policy uncertainty to be more or less unchanged The University of Stellenbosch's Bureau for Economic Research survey of manufacturers experiencing policy/political uncertainty was slightly up from 77 to 80. ALSO READ: Policy Uncertainty Index drops sharply due to various local and global risks Partial respite on trade with suspension of US tariffs for Policy Uncertainty Index Professor Raymond Parsons, an economist at the NWU Business School, says that while the global outlook is highly uncertain, there has been a partial respite on the trade front, as the US administration has suspended most, but not all, tariff hikes until July 9, pending further negotiations. 'Internally, although there have been some positive developments, they were outweighed by negative factors.' Parsons says the global economic growth outlook was further trimmed by international organisations such as IMF and the OECD that reduced growth forecasts for most major economies, including the US economy, except for the EU economy, where modest growth is still anticipated 'The downward revision of various global economic growth outlooks therefore stems from a convergence of geopolitical risks, elevated economic uncertainty due to 'Trumpanomics' and erratic tariff decisions and a tangible repricing of risks in financial markets generally. 'These overall economic assessments were reinforced by the Israeli-Iran conflict, further increasing global economic uncertainty. (This Policy Uncertainty Index was finalised before the US attack on Iran).' Parsons also points out that the US Fed decided to leave interest rates unchanged for the fourth time in June, while the World Bank assesses that the Sub-Saharan economy will grow by 3.5% in 2025, rising to 4.3% in 2026-2027, but with the usual associated risks and uncertainties. ALSO READ: Policy Uncertainty Index falls, confirming uneven economic recovery Positive factors for South Africa: lower inflation and repo rate in Policy Uncertainty Index In the second half of 2025, positive factors in South Africa over the past quarter included lower inflation and easier interest rates, and if the inflation outlook continues to stabilise, there is the possibility of another modest cut in borrowing costs later in the year, Parsons says. 'There is also now the prospect that South Africa may be off the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list by the end of 2025, which will mean that borrowing costs will be lowered for South Africa. 'At the policy level, the most important development in the second quarter, which is necessary to promote, was probably parliament's eventual finalisation and acceptance of a 'pragmatic' third 2025-26 Budget, but without the controversial VAT [value-added tax] increase. 'However, if the various key parameters in the Budget are not met, future risks to fiscal sustainability remain.' ALSO READ: Business Leadership CEO expresses worry about recent GNU tensions Negative factors to beware of in second half of 2025 in Policy Uncertainty Index Parsons also points out that negative factors offsetting the positive ones in the second quarter include: The muted high-frequency data in recent months The disappointing 0.1% gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank are scaling down growth forecasts for 2025 and Higher unemployment. 'The weak fixed capital investment trends revealed in the GDP figures for the first quarter also raised a red flag, and heightened planned infrastructural spending must urgently respond. If present trends persist, the present GDP growth outlook for 2025 is about 1%, increasing to about 1.5% next year.' He warns that the developing economic recovery in South Africa is struggling to gain momentum and says the country needs a strategic pivot in growth policy to create the extra economic buffers required to deal with external shocks. 'The GNU's policy agenda for a 3% GDP growth target in the medium term therefore now urgently needs an impulse, a jolt, an acceleration, so that the tailwinds in the economy outweigh the headwinds in 2025 and beyond.' ALSO READ: Policy uncertainty in SA increased, but GNU could be positive influence Negative trends in Policy Uncertainty Index that can be reversed Parsons says that although the Policy Uncertainty Index for the second quarter remains well in negative territory for now, these trends proved to be reversible in the past if the right actions are taken through policies and actions under South Africa's control. 'In any event, the emerging economic recovery at present is battling to gain traction and therefore needs maximum support to underpin the business cycle upturn. A strategic pivot in investment and growth policies is also needed to create the extra economic buffers required to deal with emerging external shocks.'
The Citizen
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
Military festival unites residents
Residents from far and wide attended the Pro Patria Museum Military Festival this past Saturday, attracting Pretoria residents and military enthusiasts alike. The event, aimed at celebrating military heritage and fostering community support, saw significant attendance, including representation from the South African Army. Among the stalls, one of the highlights was the one run by Regardt du Preez, who, along with his colleagues, prepared tea boiled on a gas stove in a metal kettle. The funds raised from tea sales went toward supporting the museum, which operates as a non-profit organisation. Lieutenant Colonel Camelia Grobler from the South African Army also joined the festival. Her presence marked an initiative to promote inclusivity within the military ranks. 'We want to recruit more white and Indian boys to the army,' she said. She added that the army is not what it is portrayed like the media. Grobler said one of the advantages of working in the army is that they help pay for your varsity fees. 'We pay for our struggling soldiers to study at the University of Stellenbosch to further their studies.' The festival offered a platform for engaging with military history while bringing together community members to support the museum. Visitors enjoyed the vibrant atmosphere and took the opportunity to learn about the army's ongoing projects. Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to bennittb@ or phone us on 083 625 4114. For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord's websites: Rekord East For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Daily Maverick
06-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Maverick
Cape Town study brings hope to newborns left behind in HIV treatment advances
Research led by Professor Adrie Bekker is paving the way for an important HIV medicine to be made available to neonates in a way that is both safe and much more convenient than previous options. Spotlight met the passionate clinician-scientist at her office in Cape Town. Two new ways of giving the important HIV medicine dolutegravir to newborns have been found to be safe and effective, according to new research done in Cape Town. The new findings support for the first time the broader use of dolutegravir in infants who are younger than 28 days. Dolutegravir is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for infants, children and adults and is the preferred HIV medicine in South Africa. It exists in a scored 10mg, child-friendly, dispersible tablet. But until now there hasn't been any guidance on how to safely use it for newborns in their first four weeks of life. A study called PETITE-DTG aimed to bridge this critical gap in neonatal HIV care. Forty-one full-term babies, each weighing at least 2kg and born to mothers receiving dolutegravir-based HIV treatment, were enrolled in the study at Tygerberg Hospital to test two paediatric formulations of dolutegravir. The first method involved using a 5mg dispersible tablet dissolved in 5ml of water and given every second day for the first 14 days of life, then once daily until the baby was four weeks old. This was administered with a syringe. The second method involved using a novel 5mg mint-flavoured film the size of a fingernail that dissolves on the tongue in seconds. It followed the same dosing schedule as the first method. Findings showed that both formulations were safe and effective, achieving drug concentrations comparable to adults receiving 50mg of dolutegravir twice daily. The findings were presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in March. Researchers are writing up the final results of the study for publication in a peer-reviewed medical journal. Professor Adrie Bekker, a neonatologist from the University of Stellenbosch, is co-principal investigator of the PETITE-DTG study alongside Dr Tim Cressey, a clinical pharmacologist from the University of Chiang Mai in Thailand. 'The study results confirmed that the regimen [both 5mg dolutegravir formulations] was safe, effective and highly acceptable to mothers, with the dolutegravir film being particularly easy to administer,' says Bekker, speaking to Spotlight in her office on Stellenbosch University's medical campus next to Tygerberg Hospital. In examining dosing safety and efficacy, she says, the study found that both formulations 'achieved target concentrations' in the neonates, without the newborns experiencing any adverse effects related to the medicine. All neonates were HIV negative at the end of the study. Babies born to a mother living with HIV may need antiretroviral medicines for the prevention or treatment of HIV. Bekker explains that neonates are currently given an older type of liquid HIV medication that doesn't taste good, costs more than dolutegravir, is harder to give properly and can't be stored for long. The novel film method was popular with mums in the study, who cited its simplicity of administering and dose accuracy as highly advantageous, with no risk of the medicine being spit out or other spillage. 'I wash and dry my hands and I cut the paper, it's quick. As soon as I put it on his tongue, it just dissolves in a few seconds, he enjoys it,' said one mother, as quoted on a poster highlighting the results of the study. Bekker notes that the film strip is one of the least-disruptive ways to give medication. 'So what has been amazing to me is that the babies seem to be completely oblivious to what is happening when the mother puts the film in their mouth,' she says, pointing out a video clip on her desktop of a film strip being placed in a tiny baby's mouth. 'If they were crying, they would just keep on crying. If they were sleeping, they would just keep on sleeping. If they were happy, they would just keep on being happy. It really is the most unintrusive way of administering medication.' Bekker says the colourless dolutegravir film is made by the Indian multinational pharmaceutical company Laurus Labs. Previously, it had only been tested in adults and is not yet commercially available. 'It's actually never even been used in children… And so our study for the first time tested the dolutegravir film in newborns to see what drug levels are found in a baby when you use it,' she says. She says the research findings have been presented to the WHO and expects they will be included in the organisation's forthcoming updated dosing guidelines for infants and children. About dolutegravir for neonates, Bekker says: 'I think the first step is to actually get this recommendation into the WHO guidelines. As soon as the WHO releases their updated HIV guidelines, then countries can decide whether they want to adopt it or not.' Regarding the availability and possible roll-out of dolutegravir for neonates, she adds: 'The generic 10mg dolutegravir, scored, dispersible tablet is already available and being used in children. What we've shown now is that 5mg of dolutegravir with this dosing strategy is safe for neonates… The film is a bit more complicated because it is not yet commercially available. And we don't know the price of the drug; all of that will need to be discussed and negotiated with the company and relevant parties before it can become available.' The PETITE-DTG research has been welcomed by fellow scientists. 'Adrie Bekker and her colleagues at Tygerberg Hospital and in Thailand have done great work and are really moving the field forward for neonatal antiretroviral treatment,' says Associate Professor James Nuttall, a paediatric infectious diseases subspecialist at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and the University of Cape Town. He says the research 'provides really nice information about how we could use our existing drugs to treat neonates, potentially'. Nuttall described the new film as extraordinary, and suggested that it might eventually replace the current drug formulations. For Nuttall though, making provision for using a pill like the scored 10mg, dispersible tablet that's already available and routinely used to treat children in South African hospitals is more immediately relevant. 'Using this 5mg dispersible tablet in neonates and working out the dosing schedule for that, that's the real advance of this study to me, the big win.' He anticipates these findings to be implemented in South Africa in the next few years. 'From what I understand, she [Bekker] has presented this to WHO already. And once it gets accepted and included into WHO guidelines, then countries tend to really take note and follow, that's when it makes its way into national guidelines…' While the study focused on healthy full-term babies weighing at least 2kg, Nuttall noted that many babies born to mothers living with HIV are either premature or have low birth weight. 'So this dosing and safety information doesn't yet apply to those children.' Bekker already has her eye set on assessing dosing safety for pre-term newborns. 'So obviously our dream is to extend this to pre-term babies,' she says. 'And there is a possibility that a 2.5mg dolutegravir film may be a good dose for pre-term neonates. Obviously, that will have to be studied very rigorously first.' Other research goals include the hope of being involved in studies assessing long-acting antiretroviral drugs in neonates. Bekker notes that the WHO-led Paediatric Drug Optimisation group identified long-acting cabotegravir injectables as a high research priority for HIV prevention in neonates. She adds that developing patches with tiny microneedles that deliver HIV medication could hold great promise for treating newborns in the future. Commenting on the PETITE-DTG study, Dr Moherndran Archary, who has been at the forefront of South Africa's HIV response for children, said: 'Professor Bekker's research has directly impacted access to life-saving HIV medication for newborn infants – the most vulnerable of populations who have not traditionally benefited from the significant advances in HIV treatment.' The PETITE-DTG study is one of many under the Unitaid-funded BENEFIT Kids project aiming to improve treatment for children with HIV or multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Unitaid is a global health initiative that, among other things, funds research and helps facilitate the more rapid introduction of new health technologies. DM
The Citizen
06-05-2025
- General
- The Citizen
Urgent mental health support needed as SA teachers buckle under pressure
A national survey shows that poor working conditions and heavy administrative demands are driving teachers to breaking point. So stressed and overworked are SA teachers, that mental health support is urgently needed in schools, according to the latest study by the University of Stellenbosch. The Teacher Preferences and Job Satisfaction in South Africa report, with findings based on a nationwide survey of over 1 500 teachers, complemented by follow-up telephonic interviews with 80 teachers, has revealed: An alarming 50% of teachers desire leaving the profession in the next 10 years, with the primary reason being excessive workloads and administrative burdens; A total of 70% have cited administrative duties as their primary source of stress, reducing time available for lesson planning and pupil support; and A total of 40% said nothing would convince them to take a job in a rural area. 'While we do not expect pre-retirement attrition rates to reach 50%, these findings highlight an urgent need to address teacher burnout and mental health,' said Heleen Hofmeyer, one of the report's authors. 'Through follow-up interviews, we found that high stress levels, excessive administrative tasks and inadequate support systems, are driving factors for teachers wanting to leave the profession.' In addressing teacher challenges, policy recommendations made by the report included: Expanding mental health support for teachers and pupils; v Reducing the administrative burden on teachers; Introducing incentives to attract teachers to rural areas; Equipping teachers with remedial teaching strategies; and Enhancing classroom management training. ALSO READ: Teachers forced to live in abandoned, dilapidated school building 'Neither shocked nor surprised' The profession's trade union, Sadtu, said it was 'neither shocked, nor surprised' by the outcomes. 'We have always raised some of the areas contained in the report,' said Sadtu deputy secretary-general Nkosana Dolopi. 'We have highlighted the impact of workload, overcrowded classes, none or dilapidated infrastructure, austerity measures or budget cuts leading to posts not being filled, with unnecessary administrative tasks being assigned to teachers, earning low salaries, labouring under deplorable working conditions,' he said. Pupil discipline and safety concerns for teachers – with little or no involvement of parents – was 'a recipe for disaster'. This madness over the matric pass percentages for political point-scoring, leading to long hours of work, sometimes on Saturdays and Sundays, should come to an end,' said Dolopi. Teachers 'not prioritised' Clinical psychologist Keitumetse Mashego, called the study a 'truly sad reflection of our society and the education system, in public and private schools'. Teachers are not coping, largely due to being burnt out and this is a risk for them and a crisis for education and future generations. 'They play a crucial role in society, yet they are not prioritised. Burnout is debilitating and can lead to other mental health disorders – depression, anxiety or substance abuse,' said Mashego. 'In severe instances, sufferers often want to leave their profession due to the severity of their experience. 'The passion that brought them to the profession has eroded,' she said. 'People who have burnout often make statements such as 'I have nothing left to give to my work', with the big component of it being emotional exhaustion. Mental health intervention 'According to the Maslach Burnout Inventory, other components are cynicism towards work, detachment or depersonalisation, where pupils are seen as objects, as well as reduced professional efficacy, whereby teachers would not see their success or value add.' The demands on teachers were 'far beyond their capabilities as human beings and it's exacerbated', said Mashego. 'There needs to be immediate crucial individual mental health intervention for the teachers.' NOW READ: Not adding up: More than 400 schools don't teach Mathematics
News24
01-05-2025
- Health
- News24
Cape Town study brings hope to newborns left behind in HIV treatment advances
Two new ways of giving the important HIV medicine Dolutegravir to newborn babies have been found to be safe and effective, according to new research done in Cape Town. The new findings support, for the first time, the broader use of Dolutegravir in infants who are less than 28 days old. Spotlight met with the passionate clinician-scientist behind the research at her office in Cape Town. Two new ways of giving the important HIV medicine Dolutegravir to newborn babies have been found to be safe and effective, according to new research done in Cape Town. The new findings support, for the first time, the broader use of Dolutegravir in infants who are less than 28 days old. Dolutegravir is recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for infants, children and adults and is the preferred HIV medicine in South Africa. It exists in a scored 10-milligram child-friendly dispersible tablet. But until now, there hasn't been any guidance on how to safely use it for newborns in their first four weeks of life. A study called PETITE-DTG aimed to bridge this critical gap in neonatal HIV care. Forty-one full-term babies, each weighing at least two kilogrammes and born to mothers receiving Dolutegravir-based HIV treatment, were enrolled in the study at Tygerberg Hospital to test two paediatric formulations of Dolutegravir. The first method involved using a five-milligram dispersible tablet, dissolved in five millilitres of water and given every second day for the first 14 days of life, then once daily until the baby four weeks of age. This was administered with a syringe. The second method involved using a novel five-milligram mint-flavoured film the size of a fingernail that dissolves on the tongue in seconds. It followed the same dosing schedule as the first method. Findings showed that both formulations were safe and effective, achieving drug concentrations comparable to adults receiving 50 milligrams of Dolutegravir twice daily. The study's findings were presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in March. Researchers are writing up the final results of the study for publication in a peer-reviewed medical journal. Professor Adrie Bekker, a neonatologist from the University of Stellenbosch is co-principal investigator of the PETITE-DTG study alongside Dr Tim Cressey, a clinical pharmacologist from the University of Chiang Mai in Thailand. "The study results confirmed that the regimen (both five-milligram Dolutegravir formulations) was safe, effective, and highly acceptable to mothers, with the Dolutegravir film being particularly easy to administer," Bekker told Spotlight in her office at Stellenbosch University's medical campus next to Tygerberg Hospital. In examining dosing safety and efficacy, she said the study found that both formulations "achieved target concentrations" in the neonates, without the newborn babies experiencing any adverse effects related to the medicine. All neonates were HIV negative at the end of the study. Babies born to a mother living with HIV may need antiretroviral medicines for the prevention or treatment of HIV. According to Bekker, neonates are currently given an older type of liquid HIV medication that doesn't taste good, costs more than Dolutegravir, is harder to give properly, and can't be stored for long. The novel film method was popular with mums in the study, who cited its simplicity of administering and dose accuracy as highly advantageous, with no risk of the medicine being spit out or other spillage. "I wash and dry my hands and I cut the paper, it's quick. As soon as I put it on his tongue, it just dissolves in a few seconds, he enjoys it," said one mother, as quoted on a poster highlighting the results of the study. Commenting on the film strip, Bekker noted it was one of the least disruptive ways to give medication. "So what has been amazing to me is that the babies seem to be completely oblivious of what is happening when the mother puts the film in their mouth," she said, pointing out a video clip on her desktop of a film strip being placed in a tiny baby's mouth. "If they were crying, they would just keep on crying. If they were sleeping, they would just keep on sleeping. If they were happy, they would just keep on being happy. It really is the most unintrusive way of administering medication." According to Bekker, the colourless Dolutegravir film is made by the Indian multinational pharmaceutical company Laurus Labs. Previously, it had only been tested in adults and it is not yet commercially available. "It's actually never even been used in children…And so our study for the first time tested the Dolutegravir film in newborns to see what drug levels are found in a baby when you use it." READ | Eight million people living with HIV in SA, according to latest estimates She said the research findings were presented to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and they are expected to be included in the organisation's upcoming updated dosing guidelines for infants and children. Commenting on Dolutegravir for neonates, Bekker said: "I think the first step is to actually get this recommendation into the WHO guidelines. As soon as the WHO releases their updated HIV guidelines, then countries can decide whether they want to adopt it or not." Commenting on the availability and possible roll-out of Dolutegravir for neonates, she added: "The generic 10-milligram Dolutegravir scored dispersible tablet is already available and being used in children. What we've shown now is that five milligram of Dolutegravir with this dosing strategy is safe for film is a bit more complicated because it is not yet commercially available. And we don't know the price of the drug; all of that will need to be discussed and negotiated with the company and relevant parties before it can become available." The PETITE-DTG research has been welcomed by fellow scientists. "Adrie Bekker and her colleagues at Tygerberg Hospital and in Thailand have done great work and are really moving the field forward for neonatal antiretroviral treatment," said Associate Professor James Nuttall, a paediatric infectious diseases sub-specialist at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and the University of Cape Town. He said the research "provides really nice information about how we could use our existing drugs to treat neonates, potentially". Nuttall described the new film as extraordinary, and suggested that it might eventually replace the current drug formulations. For Nuttall though, making provision for use of a pill like the scored 10 milligram dispersible tablet that's already available and routinely used to treat children in South African hospitals is more immediately relevant. "Using this five milligram dispersible tablet in neonates and working out the dosing schedule for that, that's the real advance of this study to me, the big win." He anticipates these findings to be implemented in South Africa in the next few years. "From what I understand, she (Bekker)] has presented this to WHO already. And once it gets accepted and included into WHO guidelines, then countries tend to really take note and follow, that's when it makes its way into national guidelines…" ALSO READ | Experts urge registration of new child-friendly ARV formulation While the study focused on healthy full-term babies weighing at least two kilogrammes, Nuttall noted that many babies born to mothers living with HIV were either premature or had a low birth weight. "So this dosing and safety information doesn't yet apply to those children," he said. Bekker already has her eye set on assessing dosing safety for pre-term newborns. "So, obviously, our dream is to extend this to pre-term babies," she said. "And there is a possibility that a 2.5-milligram Dolutegravir film may be a good dose for pre-term neonates. Obviously, that will have to be studied very rigorously first." Other research goals include the hope of being involved in studies assessing long-acting antiretroviral drugs in neonates. Bekker noted that the WHO-led Paediatric Drug Optimisation group identified long-acting Cabotegravir injectables as a high research priority for HIV prevention in neonates. She added that developing patches with tiny microneedles that deliver HIV medication could hold great promise for treating newborns in the future. Commenting on the PETITE-DTG study, Dr Moherndran Archary, who has been at the forefront of South Africa's HIV response for children, said: "Professor Bekker's research has directly impacted access to life-saving HIV medication for newborn infants – the most vulnerable of populations who have not traditionally benefited from the significant advances in HIV treatment." The PETITE-DTG study is one of many under the Unitaid-funded BENEFIT Kids project aiming to improve treatment for children with HIV or multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. UNITAID is a global health initiative that, among others, funds research and helps facilitate the more rapid introduction of new health technologies.
