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18 November 2020 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath | Photo Supplied
The UFS team, from the left: Monique Harcourt, Dawid Potgieter, Atalanta Watson, and Zoe Travers.

One of two teams from the University of the Free State (UFS) performed exceptionally well and made it to the top four in the extremely competitive local Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) University Challenge.

The CFA Society South Africa recently hosted the 12th annual local edition of the CFA Institute University Research Challenge. The research challenge is an annual global competition in equity research hosted by the CFA Institute, a global representative body for chartered financial analyst (CFA) charter holders. During the research challenge, teams from different universities locally and internationally compete on three levels – more than 1 000 universities compete annually.  

"Taking part in the CFA challenge was a wonderful opportunity where we learnt new skills and gained industry-specific experience, which will be invaluable to us as we graduate and embark on our journey as professionals. We are proud to have represented Kovsies in the finals and this proved to us, once again, that hard work pays off, " said the UFS team.

Two teams of four were selected to represent the UFS during the 2020 challenge. Team selection was based on students’ performance during the first semester of their BCom Honours (specialisation in Financial Economics and Investment Management) in the Department of Economics and Finance. During the challenge, students assumed the role of a (sell-side) research analyst and had to write a concise report that covered various aspects related to the company’s business activities, structure, governance, finances, etc., which was presented via Zoom to a panel of judges from the CFA Society South Africa. 

Dr Ivan van der Merwe, the team’s adviser from the Department of Economics and Finance, commented: “It was a pleasure to work with a team that showed so much dedication and was willing to go the extra mile. The experience they gained during this challenge will stand them in good stead and it was a real confidence builder for them to successfully complete a very stressful live presentation and subsequent question session. They made us proud and set the standard for aspiring Finance students at Kovsies.” 

News Archive

Fighting the tuberculosis battle as a collective
2015-09-28



The team hard at work making South Africa a
healthier place

Tuberculosis (TB) is second only to HIV/AIDS as the greatest killer worldwide due to a single infectious agent. More than 95% of TB deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. Despite being more prevalent among men than women, TB remains one of the top five causes of death amongst women between the ages of 15 and 44 years. While everyone is at risk for contracting TB, those most at risk include children under the age of five and the elderly. In addition, research indicates that individuals with compromised immune systems, household contacts with pulmonary TB patients, and healthcare workers are also at increased risk for contracting TB.

According to the Deputy Director of the Centre for Health Systems Research and Development (CHSR&D) at the UFS, Dr Michelle Engelbrecht, research has found that healthcare workers may be three times more likely to be infected by TB than the general population.

The unsettling fact

“Research done in health facilities in South Africa has found that nurses do not often participate in basic prevention acts, such as opening windows and wearing respirators when attending to infectious TB patients,” she explained. 

In response to this concern, CHSR&D, which operates within the Faculty of Humanities at the the University of the Free State (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus has developed a research project to investigate TB prevention and infection control in primary healthcare facilities and households in Mangaung Metropolitan.

Action to counter the statistics

A team of four researchers and eight field workers from CHSR&D are in the process of gathering baseline data from the 41 primary healthcare facilities in Mangaung. The baseline comprises a facility assessment conducted with the TB nurse, and observations at each of the facilities. Individual interviews are also conducted with community caregivers, as well as TB and general patients. Self-administered questionnaires on knowledge, attitudes, and practices about TB infection control are completed by all nurses and facility-based community caregivers.

Healthcare workers are the main focus of this research, given their increased risk of acquiring TB in healthcare settings. At clinics, interventions will be developed to improve infection control practices by both healthcare workers and patients. TB patients’ households are also visited to screen household contacts for TB. Those found to have symptoms suggesting TB infection are referred to the clinics for further assessment and treatment.

The findings of this study will serve to inform the development of an intervention to address TB prevention and infection control in primary healthcare facilities. Further funding will be sought to implement and evaluate the intervention.

Curbing future infections and subsequent deaths as a result of TB is the priority for the UFS. The cooperation and collaboration of the community, government, and sponsors will ensure that this project is a success, hence prolonging life expectancy.


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