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07 January 2018
Photo Charl Devenish
Dr Anneke van der Spoel van Dijk is invested in contributing
to the global effort of stopping TB by 2035.
The work of Dr Anneke van der Spoel van Dijk investigates the spread of TB in the Free State population using techniques such as next generation sequencing, spoligotyping and MIRU-VNTR typing. Dr Van der Spoel van Dijk, a senior medical scientist in the Department of Medical Microbiology at the University of the Free State (UFS) also looks at drug resistance in her research. This work informs decisions about how best to treat patients with multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB).
She employs rapid molecular techniques to track one of Africa’s most serious diseases, tuberculosis (TB).
Drug resistance
Scientists assist the National Health Laboratory Service and Department of Health in trying to refine the diagnostic tools to identify these cases earlier. Dr Van der Spoel van Dijk explains: “Until recently, it took up to two years to fine-tune treatment decisions for patients with MDR-TB. Patients get a cocktail of anti-TB drugs, but it takes time to find the right combination. Re-infection and relapse (patients stopping treatment for several reasons) add to the diagnostic and treatment management challenges.
Enormous impact
“Now doctors can reduce the time needed for diagnostic certainty to about seven days, while new drugs allow reduction of treatment from more than 18 to nine months. This can have an enormous impact on the life of many patients.”
Dr Van der Spoel van Dijk’s work forms part of research in the faculty looking at resistance development in TB strains. She is currently also doing her doctoral thesis on the differences and incidence of MDR-TB among adolescents versus adults. Dr Van der Spoel van Dijk says: “It is a complicated picture, but we hope to unravel it to support better diagnostic tools and patient care.”
As part of the National Health Laboratory Service, her department is playing an important role in TB diagnostics and the training of scientists and future pathologists. “Our work is contributing to the global vision to stop TB by 2035,” Dr Van der Spoel van Dijk says.
New Zealand High Commissioner visits the UFS
2009-11-06
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The New Zealand High Commissioner to South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique, Mr. Geoff Randal, recently visited the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Centre for Africa Studies (CAS) and presented a seminar on “New Zealand and Africa: Asymmetry writ large”.
His talk considered relations between New Zealand and Africa, exploring what looks like a massive asymmetry. He concluded that difference wais normal and not in itself a barrier to effective collaboration. In his view, diplomacy is an important tool to obtain balance by continuous adjustment and through dialogue across perceived asymmetry. Through diplomacy as the connector, facilitator and coordinator, perceptions are shaped and can small states can make a stand against the powerful. Attending the seminar were, from the left: Mr. Arthur Johnson, Manager: International Partnerships and Liaison at the UFS); Prof. Heidi Hudson, Programme Director: CAS; Mr Geoff Randal, New Zealand High Commissioner to South Africa – speaker; Ms. Kamo Dipico, Administrative Officer: CAS; Ms Steffi Cawood, Lecturer: CAS, and Ms. Siti Dipico, Research Assistant: CAS.
Photo: Mangaliso Radebe |