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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

Getting out of the dark

2015-06-10

ESKOM is making daily announcements on the status of the power grid.

Anton Calitz, Electrical Engineer at University Estates, is in continuous contact with Eskom and Centlec in an effort to stay abreast of load shedding.

According to Anton, Eskom has recently - the week of 20 April - been focusing on the evening peak, and has announced STAGE 1 load shedding from 17:00-22:00; thus, the Bloemfontein Campus should be able to continue business as usual during the day, except for Thursdays from 18:00 and, possibly, Fridays from 17:00.

Where can I get more information about load shedding stages?

Apart from Eskom’s webpage, staff can also visit GRID WATCH. Click on "Search", then under "Schedules". Look for "Mangaung Local Municipality", and select "GROUP 4". Save this location. “This can even be loaded onto your mobile device.”

“The time slots can be seen for a couple of days in advance, to allow us to plan around the possibility of load shedding in our daily lives,” said Anton.

Please note: ESKOM can change the STAGE level at any time. Therefore, keep an eye on GRID WATCH and News24.

View the typical seven-day planner for the Bloemfontein Campus (Group 4), which indicates the STAGE 2 and 3 possibilities. Take note that, on some days, the STAGE 2 and 3 time slots are the same.

More load shedding tips: Your IT needs

The UFS Data Centre (Computer Room) is fully serviced by a generator facility, and can function without external power supply for a few days.

The generator servicing the UFS data centre does NOT provide power to the outlying facilities. This implies that all digital equipment at gates, booms, and access points will be shut down until the power is restored to these facilities. “We are now, in collaboration with Nico Janse van Rensburg, in a process to install UPS facilities at these points, which will ensure two to three hours of power supply at these points, even during load shedding,” said Dr Vic Coetzee, Senior Director: ICT Services.

No Wi-Fi will be available, as it is dependent on the power supply to the buildings where it is installed.

All servers are contained in the data centre, and will be kept running by our generators.

How to manage load shedding and your IT needs:

1. Get into the habit of saving your work regularly on computer so that you don’t lose your work/files during load shedding.
2. Back up important data. Keep to a schedule of regular back-up. Make sure your computer back-ups are safe and recoverable.
3. Keep all electronic devices charged and ready to run on battery power. Keep your cellphone charged: some old-style Telkom landlines will still operate during power outages, but others won't.
4. Remember, when power supply is restored, it sometimes happens that a power surge is sent through the network, which will damage your computer. Fortunately, laptop computers will not suffer this fate as their power is provided through an external power pack. Often, this power pack will be damaged, but not the laptop itself.
5. It makes good sense to reboot your computer daily, not only in terms of power shedding, but also in terms of updating the drivers, software, etc.
6. Switch off all computers and other electrical equipment at the wall plug overnight and on weekends.
7. Should your IT equipment not switch on after a power outage, log a call with the ICT Services. You can also call them at x2000.

More information, guidelines and contact numbers

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