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Prof Motlalepula Matsabisa elected co-chair of WHO Global Traditional Medicine Summit steering committee

25 June 2025 | Story Andre Damons | Photo Andre Damons

Prof Matlalepula Matsabisa — Prof Motlalepula Matsabisa, renowned African Traditional Medicine expert and pharmacology researcher from the University of the Free State (UFS) will co-chair the World Health Organisation Global Traditional Medicine Summit steering committee.

Prof Motlalepula Matsabisa, renowned African Traditional Medicine expert and pharmacology researcher from the University of the Free State (UFS) has recently been elected a co-chairperson of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Traditional Medicine Summit steering committee. The other co-chairperson is Dr Goh Cheng Soon from Malaysia.

The steering committee, which is appointed for one year, will help the WHO to organise the WHO Traditional Medicines Global Summit taking place later this year in New Delhi, India. The steering committee is also an advisory body to the WHO and the Global Traditional Medicine Centre to provide reviews and recommendations for the WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit coordination, propose summit sessions and session speakers. This committee has 15 members from South Africa, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, India, China, Bhutan, Germany, Brazil, Egypt, New Zealand, US, Netherlands, Switzerland and Bolivia.

Prof Matsabisa, Research Director of the African Medicines Innovations and Technologies Development (AMITD) platform at the UFS, is also the chairperson of the WHO Africa Regional Expert Advisory Committee on Traditional Medicine (REACT).

Responsibility of the committee

“Once more this is an honour for me to take this task and lead a group of experts – not just from the African continent where I am currently the chairperson of the WHO Afro REACT committee, but now I chair experts from all the continents and all six WHO geographical regions – namely Africa (Afro), the Americas (AMRO), the eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), Europe (EURO), South East Asia (SEARO) and the Western Pacific (WPRO). I chair a worldwide group of experts,” says Prof Matsabisa.

According to him, the committee will work with WHO to design the summit programme, identify summit sessions and session speakers, as well as recommend ministers to be in the round-table discussions. The committee will also be responsible for the design of the exhibitions that will showcase traditional medicine products and practices across all six WHO regions. The identification of the sessions will be around action and delivery on the priority agenda from the past 2023 WHO Global summit as well as from the deliverables of the WHO 2025-2034 Traditional Medicines strategy.

The theme for the WHO Traditional Medicines Global Summit is “Restoring balance for people and planet. The science and practice of health and well-being”. They anticipate attracting 6 000 people, from all over, to attend the summit with at least 1 000 in-person attendees and another 5 000 online participants.

The committee will look at the first WHO 2023 Traditional Medicines Global summit and its Gujarat Declaration where the Traditional Medicine (TM) priority agenda was set – this priority agenda included global leadership, research and evidence, universal health coverage (UHC), primary health care (PHC) health systems, data and routine information systems, biodiversity and sustainability.

Market the UFS

When a call for applications to serve on the steering committee went out, Prof Matsabisa applied and was later approached by the WHO to chair the steering and advisory committee. “I see this as an opportunity to serve the WHO and use my knowledge and skills to serve the world. I felt very honoured to have been approached for such an important job and role to undertake. As a chairperson, I will guide the committee, take responsibility for the planning and implementation of the summit. I will market the summit. I shall be the direct link between the WHO in Geneva and the committee.”

Prof Matsabisa indicated that he will use the chairmanship to market and internationalise the UFS AMITD programme and give it a further global outlook. He will also find new collaborators and potential funders and investors for projects and activities of the UFS and secure activities that will help find and fund global postdoctoral fellows and visiting scholars. This will be good for the AMITD platform.

“The steering committee shall set the 2nd WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit theme for scale up learning, collaboration and action,” says Prof Matsabisa. “Therefore, the committee will design the summit programme to address these and take themes and discussions from high-level political commitments, building on UNGA, WHA, G20, BRICS, and AU etc. Launches of the WHO Global TM Library on Traditional Medicine; WHO Bulletin special issue on Traditional Medicine; TM Innovation and Investment Initiative; Global TM Research Roadmap; Global TM Data Network; and Learnings from Indigenous Knowledge will also take place.”

Furthermore, advancements of healthy ecosystems and TM integration and encouraging indigenous people's knowledge exchange; and AI and TM governance course/ brief as well as the advancing of cross-cutting frameworks for TM-related ethics, rights, IP, equitable access and benefits are on the agenda.

News Archive

Letter to students from Prof Jonathan Jansen about student protest action at the UFS

2015-10-21

Dear Students

Student protest action at the University of the Free State

I wish to make clear that the senior leadership of the University of the Free State understands and supports the demands from students and their leaders that higher education be accessible to all students, especially the poor. For the past six years we have done everything in our power to meet that commitment to students who are academically talented, but simply cannot afford to pay; that is why our tuition fees remain among the lowest in the country. Our efforts to raise private funding have enabled thousands more students to study at the UFS than would have been possible on the government subsidy only. Whether it is the Staff Fund contributions (yes, our staff empty their pockets to support student fees) or the No Student Hungry (NSH) bursary programme (yes, we raise funds for food bursaries), we will continue our drive to fund students who cannot afford higher education. Let me repeat, no student with a solid academic record will be denied access to studies simply because they cannot pay.

Now, to the matter at hand. There is a national demand from students for a 0% fee increment for 2016. The Minister’s response, after consultation with stakeholders, was that universities should cap their 2016 fee increases at 6%. Despite this initiative from government, the protests continue on virtually all campuses across South Africa for the ‘no fee’ increase.

Our response, as the UFS leadership, is to continue engaging the SRC as the chosen leadership of our students in trying to negotiate a settlement on the matter. We have worked around the clock to be available to student leaders to find some resolution on 2016 fees. While we understand the demands of students, as university leaders, we can only work with the government subsidy we receive. Any agreement reached, cannot and must not place the university at academic and financial risk in its ability to deliver public higher education to the country - if that happens, everybody loses. Still, no matter what happens in terms of the response from government, the leadership door at the UFS remains open to finding a mutually acceptable solution to all parties in these deliberations.

Students, we are deeply concerned by the violence, intimidation and threats from the small group of protesting students. These dangerous and demeaning behaviours, like disrupting classes and verbally abusing students and staff, undermine the legitimate quest of students for relief concerning tuition fees. Such behaviour is completely unacceptable and the university will take action where required. We must also remember that we have an obligation to all 30 000 students whose right to learn without fear of violence and intimidation must be respected.

In conclusion, over the past few years we have worked hard to build a culture of mutual respect and embrace as we worked through some very difficult challenges on campus. You would have noticed that the university leadership responded quickly and sympathetically to reason and respect in difficult situations of rage and demonstration. A minority of students, with some outsiders, have come onto the campus to break down that culture in which, while we might disagree, we continue to work on the basis of mutual respect. I urge all students that, as we engage of this important problem of enabling greater access to higher education, we continue to remain true to the core values of our Human Project.

Best Regards

Prof Jonathan Jansen
Vice-Chancellor and Rector
University of the Free State

Letter to students from Prof Jonathan Jansen about student protest actions at the UFS (Pdf format)

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