RESEARCH AND PROJECT WORK On the following pages we report on the research and project activities conducted in the SOPH in 2019 and 2020. We introduce several focus areas in some detail, before providing a complete list of all our projects. The School’s research is characterised by its collaborative nature. The list of partners in this report reflects the extensive network of links we have with local and international academic institutions, health sector partners, local community organisations and international development organisations. This work is supported by a wide range of funders, both large and small, which include, among others, the EU, NIH, IDRC, NRF, SAMRC and the Belgian government.
The HPSR work intersects with the School’s other research foci in a number of ways. We report on two exciting international projects – the first of which focuses on monitoring the health of women, children and adolescents (Countdown 2030). The other, a UKRI-funded multi-year hub for Accelerating Achievement for Africa’s Adolescents, aims to determine which combination of ‘accelerator’ services or interventions (from across the health, education, social and economic sectors) can most efficiently help adolescents achieve their potential across multiple life domains and SDG targets.
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Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) remains a cornerstone of our work, clustered around, and supported by, two SARChI Chairs in Health Systems and an Extra-Mural SAMRC , Advocacy, Policy arch wo e s e Other projects in the School also Research Unit (Health Services rk ,R -t g explore public health challenges to Systems). The resources in ha h c faced by adolescents, from the generated by the chairs and HOW WE WORK: impact of violence to access the extra-mural research In partnership and community-based to health services. unit provide us with Locally and internationally invaluable opportunities HIV/AIDS remains an to shape and advance ial determinants * Equit ES: Soc y important programmatic M research agendas of E TH area of work, with importance to the Global Non-communicable diseases * Food security projects exploring South and to invest Pharm public health * Mental public health the acceptability in nurturing the next HIV * Maternal and child health * and feasibility of a generation of academics Men’s health * Sexual & reproductive health family intervention to in HPSR through doctoral Gen licy d er improve ART adherence bursaries and postd po * Gov ernance * Health systems an (Sinako); and interventions doctoral fellowships. to improve adherence Inter-disciplinary, inter-sectorally and retention in care for Over the past two years Supporting open access & adolescents on anti-retroviral we worked closely with the open source therapy in the Western Cape. Western Cape Government as they explored inter-sectoral Food security, food choices and collaboration in the Whole of Society their interaction with non-communicable Approach to governing. Collaborative diseases, as well as pharmaceutical public health, governance has also been the focus of the have continued to feature strongly in our research Mphatlalatsane Project, a multi-partner and portfolio. We report on a collaboration with the comprehensive maternal and newborn care University of Rwanda, lending our expertise in strengthening initiative in three provinces. curriculum and materials development to support their development of a Regional Centre of Excellence The interface between formal health systems and for Vaccines, Immunization and Health Supply Chain community systems runs as a thread through much Management, a project funded by Health Research for of our HPSR, sometimes more, sometimes less Action (HERA), Belgium. explicitly. In this report we highlight the development of an Action Learning Fellowship programme for the Besides the articles highlighting specific projects, our Community Action Networks (CANs) during the summary of projects (from page 38) gives an overview COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed eight community of the full breadth and depth of the SOPH’s research organisers/activists from a number of different CANs endeavours. to work together throughout the course of 2020 to facilitate a range of cross-CAN activities.
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