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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

Leah Tutu - from a humble heritage to a matriarch of devotion

2013-10-18

Leah Tutu
18 October 2013

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Leah Tutu Symposium: YouTube video

There are treasures in life, but owners are few
Of money and power to buy things brand new
Yet you can be wealthy and feel regal too,
If you will just look for the treasures in you …

The joy and the laughter, the smile that you bring;
The heart unafraid to love and to sing;
The hand always willing to help those in need;
Ones quick to reach out, to labour and feed.

So thank you for sharing these great gifts inside;
The caring, the cheering, the hug when one cried.
Thanks for the energy, encouragement too,
And thank you for sharing the treasures in you. (Author unknown)

With these words, Thandeka Tutu-Gxashe embodied the celebration in honour of her mother, Leah Tutu.

On Thursday 17 October 2013, the Annual Intercontinental Leah Tutu Symposium was launched at the UFS’ Bloemfontein Campus. Dignitaries and students alike flocked to the Centenary Hall where friends and family shared their immense love and respect for Ms Tutu.

Approaching the podium, Eunice Dhadhla (co-founder with Ms Tutu of the Domestic Workers Union) started humming and in an instant the audience had risen to their feet and the words “My mother was a kitchen girl. My father was a garden boy. That’s why I’m a unionist”, reverberated through the hall.

“I am what I am today because of her,” Dhadhla said of Ms Tutu. They have walked a long hard road together to ultimately unite domestic workers across the globe. Stretching her small body to its full length, Dhadhla imparted one of the most valuable lessons she has learned from Ms Tutu, “Stop crawling, stand up and walk for yourself.”

As soon as Dr Sindiwe Magona – acclaimed writer and poet – ascended the stage, her energy rushed across the room with electrifying intensity. Her high regard for Ms Tutu as public icon as well as a mother, wife and friend, was palpable. Belting out line after line of a poem she wrote especially for Ms Tutu, the audience echoed their agreement in a mutual exchange.
No sooner were they seated, than Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Prof Jonathan Jansen had the crowd roaring with laughter. Archbishop Tutu’s familiar chuckle peppered his story of how he came to propose to his wife. It was clear, though, how much he reveres Ms Tutu’s presence in his life. With enormous awe, he revealed her innate power, specifically during difficult times in our country’s past – from weathering death threats against her husband to public humiliation.

But despite adversity and heartache, in front of the Centenary Hall, this matriarch stood up and beamed joy into everyone present.

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