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Fighting COVID-19: Here is how we are helping

16 April 2020 | Story Department of Communication and Marketing | Photo Charl Devenish

Farmovs — In 2019, FARMOVS was pre-qualified by the WHO to support clinical studies aimed at improving access to quality generic medicines across the globe.

The University of the Free State (UFS) is committed to supporting government’s efforts to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. During this challenging time, dedicated staff members at the UFS continue to provide services as a testimony to their commitment to advance public knowledge of COVID-19 for the greater good of South Africa.

The following is a synopsis of the areas in which the UFS is actively assisting.

Public Health Emergency Solidarity Trial
Clinicians from the Department of Internal Medicine, the Department of Critical Care, and the Division of Virology will be working with FARMOVS to participate in the Public Health Emergency Solidarity Trial initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO). This international randomised trial will evaluate four treatment options (remdesivir, lopinavir/ritonavir, lopinavir/ritonavir plus interferon, chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine) for the treatment of COVID-19.

The trial is expected to include more than 45 countries worldwide, including a number of South African sites.

Farmovs
FARMOVS is in a planning process to support all the Bloemfontein hospitals, including Pelonomi, Universitas, 3 Military Hospital, Mediclinic, and Rosepark, in conducting the largest global trial on COVID-19 – the Public Health Emergency Solidarity Trial, under leadership of the WHO.

Negotiations are ongoing between the UFS and the Department of Health in the Free State for FARMOVS to offer support with the continuation of healthcare to non-COVID-19 patients in an attempt to free up space at Universitas Hospital for isolation of COVID-19 patients.

In 2019, FARMOVS was pre-qualified by the WHO to support clinical studies aimed at improving access to quality generic medicines across the globe. FARMOVS also receives feasibility requests for support with the evaluation of existing drugs (repurposing) as well as the development of novel drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 – this is an ongoing process.

Disaster Management Training and Education Centre (DiMTEC)
DiMTEC represents the UFS on the Provincial Joint Operation Centre (PROVJOC). The PROVJOC is a fully equipped, dedicated facility that is proactively established to enable all relevant role players /disciplines to jointly manage all safety and security-related aspects of any planned event or any major incident which has occurred or is imminent – especially in the response and recovery operations phase – at the strategic and/or tactical level, using the Unified Command System. This facility is also linked to all other established safety and security centres.

Research and Innovation
The UFS hosts a SARChI Research Chair in vector-borne and zoonotic diseases, and recently invested in the establishment of a biosafety level-3 facility. Hence, there is expertise on the campus to plan and conduct research on zoonotic and medically significant viruses. In addition, there are research groups focusing on protein expression systems with potential for utilisation in the development of diagnostic assays with application in either diagnosis or surveillance.

Currently, researchers at the UFS have established several projects that will contribute directly towards the COVID-19 outbreak.

News Archive

UFS welcomes the class of 2010

2010-01-13

Pictured with Prof Jansen are, from the left: Christo Smal (B.Sc. Quantity Surveying student from Bloemfontein), Nicole Tarentaal (LL.B. student from Bloemfontein), Charmoné Swartz (LL.B. student from Kimberley) and Lizé de Witt (B.Sc. Quantity Surveying student from Bloemfontein).
Photo: Stephen Collett

The University of the Free State (UFS) welcomed its first-time entering first-year students on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein this past weekend.

Addressing the new students and their parents at the ceremony, the Rector and Vice-Chancellor Prof. Jonathan Jansen assured the new students and their parents that “they are at the right place”.

“We will not cut corners with your child’s education as we are serious about the quality of the education we provide,” he said to the parents. “We shall make sure that our students are distinguished among graduates from other universities – that they are leaders. Quality is not negotiable.”

Prof. Jansen also said the standards of admission at the UFS would be raised. “We need students of a higher academic standard,” he said.

“Our students will obtain a degree they will be proud of. We are going to put everything into their education and experience here at the UFS so that they can be the best in their field of study.”

He told the new students and their parents that they were safe at the UFS as no first-year student would be initiated anymore. He said that there were other ways to create self-respect and confidence in a young person without having to use initiation.

“It is not enough to have a degree,” he said. “We want to link your degree to thorough preparation for the workplace. Your degree must be accepted globally.”

Prof. Jansen further emphasised the importance of students to understand one another and to get along with one another – especially with those who speak a language different from their own and with a different skin colour than theirs.

“Our students must have respect for one another. This is a value that should be added to your qualification in order for you to be relevant in the workplace anywhere in the world.”

He said the university was busy with a programme to install computer points in all the residences. He also extolled the virtues of the UFS, citing excellence in sport, music, debating and other activities.

Prof. Jansen also reiterated the fact that the first group of 100 first-year students who would be sent overseas to study during the second semester would come from this class of 2010.

“The class of 2010 will change Kovsies. They will be the best students that have ever graduated,” he said.

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt@ufs.ac.za
12 January 2010

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