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Prof Mamello Sekhoacha new chairperson of National Health Research Ethics Council

08 February 2021 | Story André Damons | Photo Charl Devenish

Read more — Prof Mamello Sekhoacha, Associate Professor from the Department of Pharmacology in the Faculty of Health Sciences, was appointed by Dr Zweli Mkhize, Minister of Health, as the new chairperson of the National Health Research Ethics Council of South Africa (NHREC).

A researcher in the field of drug discovery and development at the University of the Free State (UFS) has been appointed by Dr Zweli Mkhize, Minister of Health, as the new chairperson of the National Health Research Ethics Council of South Africa (NHREC).

Prof Mamello Sekhoacha, Associate Professor from the Department of Pharmacology in the Faculty of Health Sciences, was appointed as a member of the NHREC council in 2013, and later became the chairperson of the NHREC’s Norms and Standards Committee responsible for developing and revising guidelines for health research. Prof Sekhoacha was appointed deputy chairperson of the council in 2018 and has played an integral part in setting ethical standards for conducting health research in the country.

Responsibilities of the NHREC

The NHREC is the national statutory body responsible for the governance and advancement of health research ethics in South Africa. Some of the responsibilities of the council are to set ethical norms and standards for health research by developing and revising the guidelines pertaining to health research; to promote and monitor compliance with existing regulations by health research ethics committees; and to build capacity in research ethics committees through robust registration and audit processes.

These responsibilities of the NHREC rest on the need to ensure ethical integrity in research involving human participants and animal subjects, and that research is based on sound scientific and ethical principles.

“It is an honour for me to serve on the NHREC for the third term. The NHREC has achieved remarkable outputs over the past three years, and I believe, given the current composition of the council members, this momentum will not be lost. One of the goals of the NHREC is to further broaden the scope of the ethics in health research guidelines from ‘biomedical research’ to ‘health-related research’ to ensure that adequate guidance is provided for those in health-related disciplines, as a response to the changing environment of research involving humans and the broader meaning of health research.”

“We need more comprehensive guidelines with nuanced commentaries to indicate how the ethical principles that emanated from biomedical research involving humans, could be effectively implemented in other disciplines of health-related research,” says Prof Sekhoacha.

Global paradigm shift in role and integration of ethics in health research

Having been a council member since 2013, Prof Sekhoacha, whose training spans from pre-clinical laboratory experimentation, the use of animals in research, clinical trials, and working with indigenous communities, says there is a global paradigm shift in the role and integration of ethics in health research in almost all aspects of research, with an increased emphasis on the scientific and social value of research: the prospect of generating the knowledge in a manner that protects and promotes people's health. Considerations of the NHREC go beyond developing ethical guidelines or ensuring the efficient functioning of the ethics committees, to raising awareness among research institutions and researchers to continually promote ethically sound research conduct.

The subject of ethics in health research is pivotal and reflective of the values of both the institution and the country at large.

UFS uses Prof Sekhoacha’s expertise on ethics

Prof Sekhoacha is also a co-opted advisory member in the Senate Research Ethics Committee of the UFS and facilitates workshops and seminars on research ethics offered by the Postgraduate School.

Prof Corli Witthuhn, Vice-Rector: Research and Internationalisation, says it is a great honour for the UFS that Prof Sekhoacha has been elected chair of the NHREC. “The NHREC governs the research ethics processes in South Africa, and it is strategically important for the UFS to now have one of our own academics play such a nationally important role. We have been using Prof Sekhoacha’s expertise on issues of ethics and we are looking forward to working with her to continue to better our own ethics processes.”

News Archive

UFS council elects Nwaila and Hancke

2005-03-15

Dr Charles Nwaila, Superintendent-General of Education in the Free State, was elected Vice-chairperson of the UFS Council and Judge Faan Hancke was re-elected as Chairperson today.

According to the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Frederick Fourie, the election of Dr Nwaila is an important achievement for the UFS as Dr Nwaila is a well known leader in education in the Free State.

Dr Nwaila pledged to work constructively with the UFS council and management to ensure that the UFS benefits all people of the province and the country.

The appointments are valid for a term of three years from 1 June 2005 to 31 May 2008.

The elections took place at the quarterly meeting of the UFS Council where a number of other key transformation steps were approved.

The Council approved a Strategic Plan for the UFS which reflects a renewed focus on transformation of the institution, calling it an important roadmap for the future of the UFS.

According to Prof Fourie, the Strategic Plan tried strike a balance between continuity and change, addressing the need to remain an excellent university in an ever-changing context and environment.

Prof Fourie said transformation had many aspects and dimensions and could not be reduced to an issue of numbers.

The Strategic Plan identifies five strategic priorities and corresponding challenges in the next phase of transformation.

The priorities are:

quality and excellence
equity, diversity and redress
financial sustainability
regional co-operation and engagement.
outward thrust

Prof Fourie said that besides the five strategic priorities the plan also reflected concrete actions and interventions to address them.

He said the renewed focus on transformation is embedded in the priorities and specific actions that are identified.

The Council congratulated the management for the roadmap and for the achievements that have already been achieved in terms of transformation.

In order to draft a comprehensive Transformation Plan that will give substance to certain aspects of the UFS Strategic plan – or roadmap – the Council approved the establishment of a Transformation Plan Team.

The team will consist of about 16 people, which includes the two coordinators, Prof Teuns Verschoor, Vice-Rector: Academic Operations, and Dr Ezekiel Moraka, Vice-Rector: Student Affairs.

According to Prof Verschoor, the team was chosen and approved by the Executive Management earlier for the individual contributions that they could make.

While the individuals do not represent particular constituencies on campus they are a very diverse group of persons in terms of race, gender and various sections of the campus and the satellite campuses.

Prof Fourie, said there was an urgency and importance attached to the work of the Transformation Plan Team.

He said that while the team must produce a plan within a tight deadline, the task must be carried out very well, which could mean different stages in the work of the team.

According to the Rector, the UFS must take the lead in best practice transformation, while not underestimating the complexity of the issues facing the UFS.

The full list of names will be finalized soon.

MEDIA RELEASE
Issued by: Mnr Anton Fisher
Director: Strategic Communication
Cel: 072 207 8334
Tel: (051) 401-2749
11 Maart 2005

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