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19 April 2024 | Story André Damons | Photo Stephen Collett
Prof Salim Karim
Prof Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Free State (left) and Prof Gert Van Zyl, Faculty of Health Sciences Dean (right) conferred Prof Salim S Abdool Karim honorary doctorate for his ground-breaking research in AIDS and COVID-19. He received the degree PhD in Medical Virology (h.c.) during the Faculty of Health Sciences graduation ceremony.

With the case study of Caprise 256, a young woman in his AIDS study, and her potent antibody that kills HIV, Prof Salim S Abdool Karim, honorary doctorate recipient, conveyed the message of the power of science, knowledge and discovery to motivate the graduates from the Faculties of Health Sciences and Theology and Religion at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Prof Karim, renowned for his ground-breaking research in AIDS and COVID-19, received the degree PhD in Medical Virology (h.c.) during Thursday’s (18 April 2024) graduation ceremony.

From humble beginnings

“It is great honour and privilege to be here and accept this honorary doctorate. I first went to university in 1978 and wanted to study engineering but did not have the money to pay for registration as I come from a poor background. So, I attended classes anywhere. But then I was accepted to study medicine at the University of Natal with a full scholarship and that was the end of my career in engineering.

“From that humble beginning to today where you might have watched me on TV trying to share with you what we know about COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, is a great culmination of a career and I am deeply honoured and privileged to receive this honorary doctorate”, he said shortly after accepting his fifth honorary degree.

Prof Abdool Karim, a clinical infectious disease epidemiologist who is widely recognised for scientific contributions to AIDS and COVID-19, also shared with graduates the last 20 years of his academic journey with an example to illustrate how exciting the acquisition of knowledge and thrill of discovery can be. He talked about his work with AIDS and says it remains one of the world’s greatest challenges. Last year, he said, there were 1.3 million new infections and over 700 000 deaths as a result of AIDS.

Caprisa 256’s antibody

“I have devoted almost 40 years of research to looking for solutions for the AIDS problem and one of the biggest problems we are dealing with is the high rate of HIV, particularly in young girls. In 2003 we started a study to begin to understand why young women are at such a high risk of HIV.

“We enrolled hundreds of young women without HIV. We provided them with all kinds of knowledge to try and keep them HIV-free. Amongst those women we enrolled was participant 256, a young lady and she acquired HIV infection two years later in 2005.”

It would later turn out that this young woman, codename Caprisa 256, has a very special antibody – the kind that can kill a wide range of HIV – which is referred to as a broadly neutralising antibody. It is an antibody researchers tried to ellicit in making vaccine.

It turned out that not only is her antibody able to kill a wide range of HIV, it is a highly potent antibody. After testing and cloning a cell in the blood and growing it in a culture and harvesting the antibody, it was genetically manipulated to get a better antibody.

The Director of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (Caprisa), explained that it took two-and-a-half years to manufacture this antibody in the US and the first South African was injected with it in 2020. They enrolled over 1 000 women in a study with half of the women receiving the placebo and half the antibody. The question whether it works, or protects humans from the HIV will only be answered next year, Prof Abdool Karim explained. 

The 3 Ps

“What I am trying to convey to you, it’s the power of science, the power of knowledge, the power of discovery and when each of you goes out into the world, I want to leave you with the message that there are three valuable lessons that I have learned in this 20-year journey of Caprisa 256.

“The first one is find your passion, find something that excites you when you wake up in the morning. There will be people that would want to pull you down, you will have to stand firm. You have to show that you are passionate and committed and regardless of the obstacles, you will persevere. Find your passion and persevere. And as you do that, always remember the pursuit of excellence. I know that each of you will bring to this world your own humanity, your own values, and we are in this world, in a situation where we are in desperate need of people who will bring their humanity and their wisdom to bear.”

Prof Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the UFS, congratulated Prof Abdool Karim on his honorary degree and praised his groundbreaking research on Aids and COVID-19, as well as his exceptional work in medical virology over the years. “Prof Abdool Karim led the South African response to COVID-19, providing us as the public, as well as the government with scientific advice on the virus, new variants, and flattening the curve. Prof Abdool Karim has the ability to easily explain complex science to members of the general public in such a way that they are able to understand it. He played a critical role during the pandemic, and for this as well as for his research on Aids, South Africa is indebted to him.

News Archive

Heart diseases a time bomb in Africa, says UFS expert
2010-05-17

 Prof. Francis Smit

There are a lot of cardiac problems in Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to the largest population of rheumatic heart disease patients in the world and therefore hosts the largest rheumatic heart valve population in the world. They are more than one million, compared to 33 000 in the whole of the industrialised world, says Prof. Francis Smit, Head of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS).

He delivered an inaugural lecture on the topic Cardiothoracic Surgery: Complex simplicity, or simple complexity?

“We are also sitting on a time bomb of ischemic heart disease with the WHO (World Health Organisation) estimating that CAD (coronary artery disease) will become the number-one killer in our region by 2020. HIV/Aids is expected to go down to number 7.”

Very little is done about it. There is neither a clear nor coordinated programme to address this expected epidemic and CAD is regarded as an expensive disease, confined to Caucasians in the industrialised world. “We are ignoring alarming statistics about incidences of adult obesity, diabetes and endemic hypertension in our black population and a rising incidence of coronary artery interventions and incidents in our indigenous population,” Prof. Smit says.

Outside South Africa – with 44 units – very few units (about seven) perform low volumes of basic cardiac surgery. The South African units at all academic institutions are under severe threat and about 70% of cardiac procedures are performed in the private sector.

He says the main challenge in Africa has become sustainability, which needs to be addressed through education. Cardiothoracic surgery must become part of everyday surgery in Africa through alternative education programmes. That will make this specialty relevant at all levels of healthcare and it must be involved in resource allocation to medicine in general and cardiothoracic surgery specifically.

The African surgeon should make the maximum impact at the lowest possible cost to as many people in a society as possible. “Our training in fields like intensive care and insight into pulmonology, gastroenterology and cardiology give us the possibility of expanding our roles in African medicine. We must also remember that we are trained physicians as well.

“Should people die or suffer tremendously while we can train a group of surgical specialists or retraining general surgeons to expand our impact on cardiothoracic disease in Africa using available technology maybe more creatively? We have made great progress in establishing an African School for Cardiothoracic Surgery.”

Prof. Smit also highlighted the role of the annual Hannes Meyer National Registrar Symposium that culminated in having an eight-strong international panel sponsored by the ICC of EACTS to present a scientific course as well as advanced surgical techniques in conjunction with the Hannes Meyer Symposium in 2010.

Prof. Smit says South Africa is fast becoming the driving force in cardiothoracic surgery in Africa. South Africa is the only country that has the knowledge, technology and skills base to act as the springboard for the development of cardiothoracic surgery in Africa.

South Africa, however, is experiencing its own problems. Mortality has doubled in the years from 1997 to 2005 and half the population in the Free State dies between 40 to 44 years of age.

“If we do not need health professionals to determine the quality and quantity of service delivery to the population and do not want to involve them in this process, we can get rid of them, but then the political leaders making that decision must accept responsibility for the clinical outcomes and life expectancies of their fellow citizens.

“We surely cannot expect to impose the same medical legal principles on professionals working in unsafe hospitals and who have complained and made authorities aware of these conditions than upon those working in functional institutions. Either fixes the institutions or indemnifies medical personnel working in these conditions and defends the decision publicly.

“Why do I have to choose the three out of four patients that cannot have a lifesaving operation and will have to die on their own while the system pretends to deliver treatment to all?”

Prof. Smit says developing a service package with guidelines in the public domain will go a long way towards addressing this issue. It is also about time that we have to admit that things are simply not the same. Standards are deteriorating and training outcomes are or will be affected.

The people who make decisions that affect healthcare service delivery and outcomes, the quality of training platforms and research, in a word, the future of South African medicine, firstly need rules and boundaries. He also suggested that maybe the government should develop health policy in the public domain and then outsource healthcare delivery to people who can actually deliver including thousands of experts employed but ignored by the State at present.

“It is time that we all have to accept our responsibilities at all levels… and act decisively on matters that will determine the quality and quantity of medical care for this and future generations in South Africa and Africa. Time is running out,” Prof. Smit says.
 

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