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27 December 2021 | Story André Damons | Photo Supplied
Prof Stephen Brown
Prof Stephen Brown, Principal Specialist in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), and his team are taking life-saving medical care to young patients in the rural parts of the Free State.

Paediatric heart specialists hope that an outreach initiative started back in 2016, allowing them to travel to rural areas in the Free State to diagnose heart defects in babies early, would grow and expand to other rural areas and provinces. 

Every year, more than 40 babies in the rural areas of South Africa may die as a result of an undiagnosed heart lesion, because everyone assumes that they have respiratory problems when they actually have critical congenital heart disease – up to 85% of which is curable, says Prof Stephen Brown, Principal Specialist and Head of the Division of Paediatric Cardiology  in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Prof Brown, who is also a paediatric cardiologist at the Universitas Academic Hospital, says a life-saving collaboration initiative between the UFS, the Mother and Child Academic Hospital (MACAH) Foundation, and the Discovery Fund started five years ago to help curb the death of young patients due to congenital heart disease, and to make services more accessible to rural communities.

Hundreds of patients seen annually  

“We initiated an outreach programme due to the fact that some patients found it difficult to get transport to our central hospital. Since the Free State is considered rural, there are long distances to travel. Our concept was that we should take the service to grass-roots level to make it more convenient for the parents and caretakers.

“We partnered with MACAH, and since early detection of congenital heart disease makes a big difference, it fits in nicely with MACAH’s first 1 000 days drive. Due to the hard work of Tertia de Bruyn, we were given the opportunity to come into contact with Discovery. Dr Daniel Buys (UFS Department of Paediatrics and Child Health) and Rudolph Pretorius (echocardiography technician) did a lot of the initial paperwork and motivation,” says Prof Brown.  

According to him, a mobile echocardiography apparatus was donated by the Discovery Foundation via MACAH, which is crucial for doing this outreach work. The machine looks like a laptop and can be transported in a carry case.  

“We see between 170 and 250 patients on an annual basis. The service is obviously confined to secondary hospitals, and we started doing the Mofumahadi Manapo Mopeli Hospital in Qwaqwa and the Bongani Regional Hospital in Welkom. It has since expanded to the Dihlabeng Regional Hospital (Bethlehem) and the Pelonomi Secondary Hospital in Bloemfontein. Since initiation in 2020, Pelonomi has seen on average 40 children per month receiving a heart sonar. COVID-19 has had a major impact on our work,” says Prof Brown. 

First 1 000 days in any child’s life determine their trajectory for life

Prof André Venter, Chairman of the MACAH Foundation, says one of the main commitments of the MACAH Foundation in central South Africa is their passionate belief that the first 1 000 days in any child’s life determine their trajectory for life. Says Prof Venter: “We should do everything in our power to ensure that this 1 000-day journey is as optimal for each child, including conception, pregnancy, birth, and health during the first two years of life.”

“As Chairman of the MACAH Foundation, I am sincerely grateful to pioneers such as Prof Brown and his team in Paediatric Cardiology for their excellent outreach initiative, but also to the Discovery Fund who shared our vision and that of Prof Brown’s team and was willing to make this very generous donation. I am so proud of and so grateful to all of you,” says Prof Venter.

According to him, this has not only helped to make infant cardiac screening in the rural areas a reality, but also to make it a world-class service.   

The importance of the partnership for rural areas  

Prof Brown says in his experience, this initiative is greatly appreciated, as he and Dr Buys do the clinics and heart sonars personally. “The families find this fantastic, since they can have direct interaction with their cardiologist, which allows for better communication and adds a personal touch. When they come to Bloemfontein for further assessment – their faces light up when seeing a familiar face.”  

“It also helps with treatment and management at their local institution. I also find that the doctors in the hospitals appreciate it tremendously – they find it easier to phone and ask for advice. It brings the ‘fancy tertiary physicians’ to a human level with whom they can interact. It also alleviates a lot of stress for the physicians, and they can show/ask advice re difficult cases,” says Prof Brown.  

By doing outreach, Prof Brown concludes, they have learned so much about the communities and the importance of being accessible, as patients appreciate having direct interaction with the professor. The doctors and staff have also been enthusiastic and supported them tremendously at all the hospitals. The students from Cuba have joined Prof Brown and his team when visiting their hospitals, and they can spend some dedicated clinical teaching time together.

News Archive

Postgraduate School and Faculty of Law receive Rector during discussion with emerging researchers
2012-09-11

A session of the special programme for upcoming researchers was attended by, from the left: Denine Smit, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Prof. Voet du Plessis of the Department of Mercantile Law and Marda Horn; back: Glancina Mokone, Albert Nell, Pieter Brits, Prof. Neil Roos, Director of the UFS’s Postgraduate School and Jamie Faber.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs
11 September 2012

 Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the university, recently addressed six Ph.D. students and their supervisors in the Faculty of Law as part of a special programme of the Postgraduate School for emerging researchers. Prof. Jansen contextualised his lecture on the impact and significance of research, “How do you determine that the important and bigger questions in your research are addressed to ensure the impact thereof?” in his discussion with the researchers. Based on the model of international postgraduate seminars, the researchers set out their field of study to Prof. Jansen and the audience. Suggestions were then made on how to increase the intellectual impact and theoretical depth of academic argumentation.

According to Prof. Neil Roos, Director of the Postgraduate School, together with Prof. Jackie du Toit and Prof. Corli Witthuhn, Academic Coordinators for the Vice Chancellor’s Prestige Scholar Programme, the aim of the programme is to provide support to emerging researchers on postgraduate level similar to the Prestige Scholar Programme.

“The initiative is being rolled out in a faculty-specific way. In consultation with the deans, the specific needs in the faculty are determined, which in turn determines the approach,” says Prof. Roos.

The six students are all involved at the university in various capacities, and are studying towards a Ph.D. in Law. They are outstanding candidates who are being funded by the Postgraduate School in order to empower postgraduate students to greater reach, internationalisation and the establishment of long-term academic networks. The programme is coordinated in the Faculty of Law by Prof. Loot Pretorius.

Two upcoming researchers in the Faculty of Theology and one in Nursing joined the group for Prof. Jansen’s lecture on significant research.

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