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21 July 2021
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Story Rulanzen Martin
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Photo Charl Devenish
Even after her premiership, Helen Zille has remained a powerful force within the South African political landscape. Here she is pictured during a workshop hosted by the Department of Political Science and Governance in February 2020.
Zille will be talking to
Prof Hussein Solomon in the Department of Political Studies and Governance at the University of the Free State.
You can join this interesting discussion on:
Date: 29 July 2021
About the author:
Helen Zille is a South African journalist, activist, and politician who served as the national leader (2007-2015) of the Democratic Alliance (DA), the official opposition party in South Africa. She was also Premier of the Western Cape from 2009 until 2019. Zille’s autobiography, Not without a Fight, was published in 2016.
Neonatal Care Unit receives donation to expand capacity
2015-10-28
 With the best care and technology available,
the survival rate of premature
babies is about 85%. The neonatal intensive
care unit at the Universitas hospital can now
expand its capacity thanks to a donation of
R1 million by the Discovery fund.
From the left is Prof André Venter.
Head: Department of Paediatrics and
Child Health at the UFS, and mrs Ruth Lewin,
Head: Corporate Sustainability at Discovery.
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The smallest people need the greatest care. This care is being provided by the neonatal unit in the Children’s Wing of the Universitas Hospital. This project of the University of the Free State (UFS), under the leadership of Prof Andre Venter, has led to several miracles regarding child health since its inception.
Now, thanks to a donation of R1 million rand from the Discovery fund, this unit can expand its capacity and treat more premature babies.
About 14% of babies in South Africa are born before the 37th week of pregnancy. These babies are born with a very low birth weight, and are in need of critical care. The neonatal intensive-care unit at Universitas Hospital is currently equipped to take care of about 14 premature babies at a time, from birth to discharge. However, because of the high incidence of premature births in the hospital’s service area, the unit needs about 45 beds.
The aim of the Children’s Wing Project is to expand the neonatal intensive-care unit in order to meet the demands of the hospital’s service area, which reaches as far as the Southern Cape. The Discovery Fund recently donated R1 million to the project, which will be used to expand the capacity of the neonatal intensive-care unit.
“With the best care and technology available, the survival rate of premature babies is about 85%. Without this, half of all premature babies would die,” says Prof Venter, Head: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the UFS.
“This is the reason why private and public partnerships, such as the one with Discovery, are essential to make specialised services available to the most vulnerable people. Discovery has made a significant contribution to the project without which we would not have been able to expand the capacity of the unit