The African Population Cohorts Consortium (APCC) Blueprint Conference took place in Cape Town on 27 and 28 May 2024.  

The conference was opened by Dr Kobus Herbst, a co-lead of the formative phase of the APCC and Professor Michéle Ramsay, one of the co-applicants of this phase. Former South African Statistician – General Dr Pali Lehohla reflected on the Science and Policy Interface, Experiences and Relevance for the APCC. An International Perspective on the Value of Population Cohorts was presented by Professor Geoffrey Ginsburg who is the Chief Scientific Officer, All of Us, NIH and co-chair of IHCC.  

Dr Kobus Herbst presented the APCC Blueprint . A total of 106 delegates attended the conference from 21 countries. 45 population cohorts accepted the blueprint. The APCC is now in its start-up phase.  

SAPRIN has awarded its second nodal PhD Fellowship to Dr Darshini Govindasamy, who will be supervising PhD student, Mr Stanley Carries. 

The South African Population Research Infrastructure Network (SAPRIN) PhD Fellowship uses the Principal Investigator (PI) model. The PI who will supervise the PhD activities is the main applicant. The PI needs at least three years post-doctoral experience and must be affiliated to a SAPRIN node. The PhD student must register at one of the universities associated with a SAPRIN node. 

The Annual SAPRIN Conference took place from 24 – 26 June at the Wits RHI in Hillbrow, Johannesburg. The conference was convened under the apt theme, “Societies in Motion: Understanding Population Health.” 

The Best Practice workshop occurred annually for 5 years and has now evolved into a fully-fledged conference.  The move to a conference marks the progression of the annual workshop from an operationally focused gathering to a more science-focused event.  

The South African Population Research Infrastructure Network (SAPRIN) is a network of public, and academic institutions, and stakeholders in a long-term partnership to produce high quality research. SAPRIN is hosted at the South African Medical Research Council and funded by the Department of Science and Innovation 

Community engagement took an innovative turn in C-SHARP  when youth filmmaking workshops resulted in three profound short films from the Bishop Lavis and Nomzamo communities in the Western Cape.  

Six grade 10 learners from high schools in Bishop Lavis and Nomzamo were recruited to participate in a three week training workshop run by non-profit organisation, Eh!woza. The comprehensive workshop was run during the June / July school holidays and covered all aspects of filmmaking from story development to interviews, use of equipment and video editing.  

In this edition of The SAPRIN Connection we speak to Dr Kobus Herbst, Director of SAPRIN.  

Dr Kobus Herbst is Director of  the South African Population Research Infrastructure Network (SAPRIN) and also the Director of Population Science at the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI). Roopa Moodley, SAPRIN’s Public Relations Manager delves into his illustrious career as she unpacks how a medical doctor pivoted into computer science and carved a career using his rare skillset to make invaluable contributions to public health in South Africa.  

Kobus is a medical doctor who obtained his qualification from the University of Pretoria in 1979. His interest in computers began in the late 1970’s when he visited Professor Dev Griesel’s laboratory at the Institute for Behavioural Sciences at the University of South Africa (UNISA).

The USINGA Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) has been actively engaging community members in Umlazi.  Two rounds of result dissemination meetings took place on 15 September in ward 82 at Umlazi Cinema and 5 October  in ward 79 at Mbalenhle Community Hall. Over 270 community members were in attendance.  

The two-and-a-half-hour meetings aimed to share baseline results and key insights from the ongoing HDSS work in the area and provide an opportunity for community feedback. 

The baseline results presented by Community Engagement Coordinator, Zandile Msimango, revealed a wealth of information, including household demographics, employment status, childcare arrangements, education levels, and pregnancy trends. The findings were creatively displayed using a results dissemination booklet filled with eye-catching graphs, infographics, and narratives in IsiZulu and English. 

On 31 October DIMAMO Population Health Research Centre (PHRC) held an impactful community engagement session at Mamotshwa Community Church in Mamabolo, Limpopo. This meeting, organised in collaboration with USAID and the Age-in-Action organisation, aimed to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes mellitus—two significant health concerns that often affect ageing populations. Over 200 people, including community members, the Department of Home Affairs and representatives from Age-in-Action, gathered to learn more about these conditions and to access important health services like HIV testing. 

The event focused on educating the community about the risk factors associated with Alzheimer’s disease. These included ageing, family history, cardiovascular health conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity, as well as lifestyle factors such as smoking, binge drinking, and lack of physical activity.  

GRT-Inspired (GRT-I) collaborated on two health screenings during July. The first screening took place in Hillbrow on 18 July and was held to commemorate Nelson Mandela Day. The annual One Health Project was convened on 27 July as an outreach activity to the Melusi community.  

In South Africa, the rural population remains burdened by poverty and the socio-economic consequences of the country’s inequalities. There are high levels of unemployment and migration is frequently undertaken to find opportunity and betterment. Migration is a key livelihood strategy for rural households that shapes the lives of young people in South Africa, so it is important to do research on this.  

Fertility (childbearing) has come down on average or sometimes remained stable in the last few years. It could be expected that being pregnant and giving birth would be safer and more comfortable at home, so the question asked here is how does migration affect childbearing in rural South Africa? 

The Generation Science (Gen S) Youth Job Shadow programme took place during Youth Month and aims to empower the future generation of youth scientists. This youth empowerment programme is run by the South African Medical Research Council. Grade 11 and 12 learners in Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria were afforded the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the SAMRC’s work. 

The primary aim of Gen S is to expose learners to the various facets of the SAMRC, giving learners access to people in various science and medical professions while combining all of this with a practical element. It is hoped that the programme helps broaden the horizons of the learners in terms of the various career paths that exist in health science research.  

On 15 October the University of Limpopo hosted a groundbreaking seminar on gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide, bringing together key stakeholders in the fight to address these pressing issues in South African communities.  

The event was organised by the university’s Research Development and Administration department and the Gender Desk, with support from the DIMAMO Population Health Research Centre. The seminar was underpinned by the theme “Tracking and Finding Solutions for Gender-Based Violence and Femicide in the Community,” 

A novel benefit sharing approach, co-developed with local communities was implemented in the MRC/Wits Agincourt HDSS.  

Variant Bio is a start-up based in the United States seeking to develop a drug to treat kidney disease in the MRC/Agincourt HDSS communities. This is the first project in South Africa aiming to better understand genetic origins of kidney diseases in Africa.  

Variant Bio has partnered with two genetic studies conducted at MRC/Wits Agincourt HDSS. The first is the African Research on Kidney disease (ARK) study in South Africa, Malawi and Uganda which is aimed at assessing genetic variants linked to kidney disease risk. The second is the AWIGEN Study in West, East and Southern Africa which aims to assess genetic and epigenetic risk associated with cardiometabolic disease.  

On Friday 26 July, the Adopt – a-  School campaign kicked off at Pride Learning Academy in Hillbrow South. It is a partnership between Gauteng Research Triangle Inspired (GRT-I), University of Johannesburg (UJ) and Save Them Edu Project Non-profit organisation.  

The campaign was initiated by GRT-I as part of their community engagement project to give back to the schools that are located within Hillbrow South. The Adopt - a - School campaign seeks to support local schools by promoting educational awareness through activities such as career talks, career expos, motivational sessions, study methods, and strategies for balancing academic life with pressure.  

Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) recently hosted its Community Advisory Board’s (CAB) three-day annual general meeting (AGM) in Durban.  

All SAPRIN nodes have CAB structures, which play a key role in fostering meaningful community engagement with research participants. AHRI's Community Advisory Board (CAB) comprises 43 members, each selected through a structured process. Village headmen nominate three candidates and these nominees proceed to an electoral college where they compete for a single CAB position. The candidate with the highest votes is elected as the primary CAB member for their village, serving a three-year term. The candidate receiving the second-highest votes becomes a standby CAB member, ready to step in should the primary member's term end prematurely. For large, sparsely populated, or geographically challenging villages, two CAB members may represent the area concurrently.