Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

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

Prof Tim Murithi calls for Africa to design new global order

2016-06-02

From left: Prof Heidi Hudson, Head of Centre for Africa
Studies (CAS); Prof Tim Murithi, Extraordinary Professor
at CAS; Prof Lucius Botes, Dean of the Faculty of
the Humanities; and Prof Prakash Naidoo, Principal of
Qwaqwa Campus.
Photo: Stephen Collet

“What do Africans have to say about the remaking of the global order?” was the opening question of Prof Tim Murithi’s lecture which was hosted by the Centre for Africa Studies (CAS) of the University of the Free State (UFS) to celebrate Africa Day on 25 May 2016.

The annual Africa Day Memorial Lecture, entitled: Africa and the Remaking of the Global Order, doubled as Prof Murithi’s inaugural lecture. He is CAS’s newly-appointed Extraordinary Professor, as well as the Head of the Justice and Reconciliation in Africa Programme at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation in Cape Town. He made a compelling argument for the need for Africa to exert an active influence on international narratives of peace, governance, justice, and reconciliation.

“If we are waiting for American leadership to get us out of the quagmire of a situation we are in, we will be waiting for a long time,” said Prof Murithi.

The Head of the Centre, Prof Heidi Hudson, concurred with Prof Murithi’s suggestion of devising African solutions for African problems. She quoted Audre Lorde’s well-known assertion that “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.”

Remembering 1963
Over five decades ago, on 25 May 1963, the Organisation of African Unity was formed, and was renamed the African Union in 2002. Africa Day marks this pivotal point in the continent’s history. On this day, we reflect on the continent’s journey into democracy, peace, stability and socio-economic development. It is also an opportunity to celebrate African identity and heritage.

Continent-building dialogues
The UFS Sasol Library celebrated Africa Day with a book launch. Facets of Power. Politics, Profits and People in the Making of Zimbabwe's Blood Diamonds by Tinashe Nyamunda is a reflection of some of the challenges that Zimbabwe continues to face. It details the disadvantaged position which the country finds itself in due to greed, maladministration, and corruption, despite possessing large deposits of minerals.

In celebration of Africa Month, CAS has held a series of lectures by esteemed scholars from across the globe. Earlier in the month, Prof Henning Melber presented lectures on Namibia’s independence and the African middle class. Kevin Bloom and Richard Poplak unpacked the issues surrounding Africa’s continental shift, while Prof Joleen Steyn Kotze focused on the possible fall of the African National Congress.

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept