April 16 2024 – The Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital School officially opened in its new location today, marking a key milestone in the partnership between Wits University and the academic hospital. The school caters for all learners in need of longer-term and chronic treatment for various paediatric conditions. Learners between Grades R and 12 are taught.
“Sick children have multiple needs, and it’s our duty to ensure that they don’t miss out on any schooling. Everyone deserves the right to be educated and to contribute meaningfully to their communities as adults,” said Professor Shabir Madhi, Dean of the Wits Faculty of Health Sciences.
Professor Madhi noted that the previous school building will be used as a campus for medical students and to grow the university’s teaching and learning footprint at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital.
The school district representative for Johannesburg Central, Ronica Ramdath, said that often sick children forfeit their education, which can be mitigated through the correct teaching approach and through supportive facilities. “When I first came to the school some years back, I was amazed at the teachers’ dedication. I remember seeing a teacher load all their educational resources in a bag and walk to the paediatric ward to teach sick children. Today, these children all benefit from such support,” she said.
The Wits Faculty of Health Sciences heads of schools were present, together with hospital and teaching representatives.
Meanwhile, Professor Madhi said that the university’s wifi is available at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, underpinning Wits’ commitment to invest in a world-class academic hospital facility. “We are very proud of our footprint at the hospital and hope to continue to add value through research and clinical work,” he said.
Professor Shabir Madhi has been appointed as an honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) by King Charles III.
Wits Professor of Vaccinology Shabir Madhi led the Oxford University sponsored Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine clinical trials in South Africa
Wits University and the University of Oxford contributed scientifically to informing the public health response to the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa and globally.
Madhi receives the Order in recognition of his services to science and public health in a global pandemic.
Madhi led South Africa and the continent’s first Covid-19 vaccine trials in 2020/2021 as founder and Director of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) Wits Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics (Wits VIDA) Research Unit.
An internationally recognised leader in his field, the National Research Foundation A-rated scientist was involved in multiple clinical and serology epidemiology studies on Covid-19, in addition to his research on vaccines against other life-threatening diseases.
The first of (subsequently two) Wits University-led South African Covid-19 vaccine trials, Madhi led the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine clinical trials in South Africa, in association with the University of Oxford.
Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, University of Oxford, and Madhi’s UK counterpart in these Covid-19 vaccine trials, says of Madhi’s CBE appointment: “I am delighted that Professor Shabir Madhi CBE has been honoured by King Charles for his remarkable contributions to global public health and particularly for his extraordinary leadership in the midst of a global pandemic. It has been a huge privilege for me to work alongside him and his team on the development of the globally impactful Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.”
Over the course of the pandemic (2020-2022), Madhi had been an outspoken, articulate, and ardent advocate of Covid-19 vaccination as well as for increased access to these and other vaccines in Africa.
On his appointment as CBE, Madhi says: “The privilege of being conferred this honour is credit to the tremendous effort of the incredible Wits VIDA research team that I have the privilege of leading at Wits University – before, during and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic. As a collective, and together with colleagues at the University of Oxford and in South Africa, we are proud to have contributed scientifically to informing the public health response to the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa and globally.”
To help address the critical shortage of expert medical specialists in the country, including surgeons, Wits University opened the Wits Advanced Surgical Skills Lab. It has been estimated that the country needs double the number of surgeons to meet its needs, a situation worsened by losing many surgical experts to the competitive overseas market due to the lack of sufficient highly specialised facilities, infrastructure, and advanced academic training programmes.
“Wits trains more doctors, surgeons, specialists and sub-specialists than any other university in southern Africa. The new R22-million Wits Advanced Surgical Skills Lab will help to enhance the training of surgeons, across disciplines, in a state-of-the-art environment, with the best equipment available,” said Professor Damon Bizos, Head of Wits Surgical Gastroenterology, and the Clinical Head of Surgery at the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre. “We need to replenish these specialised skills and replicate them in adequate measure in order to deliver essential services to South Africans and Africans.”
Located on the ninth floor of the Faculty of Health Sciences building in Parktown, the Wits Advanced Surgical Skills Lab officially opened on Tuesday, 12 October 2021. The state-of-the-art facility is designed in line with international best standards. along with teaching facilities that make the Wits surgical training programme one of the best in the world.
“If we fail to replenish the pool of surgeons in South Africa, both the training of all South African doctors and the delivery of healthcare for all will be compromised. The loss of these skills will result in the loss of services in both the private and public sectors,” said Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, Wits Vice-Chancellor and Principal. “South Africa needs to retain highly skilled and specialised surgeons. By creating opportunities for doctors to undergo highly specialised training locally, rather than abroad, the likelihood of losing these doctors to other countries is lessened.”
The Wits Advanced Surgical Skills Lab will be able to provide the interdisciplinary training needs of surgical disciplines including general surgery; orthopaedics; gynaecology; ear, nose and throat; cardiothoracic; urology; maxillofacial; ophthalmologic; neuro; and plastic surgery. It will also include the training of specialists, doctors, nurses and other allied health practitioners.
“The basic and intermediate courses will help inculcate basic surgical competence and skills development, whilst advanced courses will ensure that experienced practitioners remain at the forefront of advances in the field,” added Prof Bizos. “We will offer access to in-house training as well as industry-sponsored surgical training courses and symposia. Train-the-trainer programmes and research into skills training will also be integral.”
The Wits Advanced Surgical Skills Laboratory boasts a large ‘wet lab’ with eight stations; laparoscopic towers and endoscopy (upper endoscopy and colonoscopy); has facilities available for training on cadavers; lead-lined walls to accommodate imaging; a new lecture room for 35 participants; and full audiovisual and videoconferencing facilities.
“Access to safe, high-quality surgery care remains an ongoing challenge in South Africa and beyond. There is a well-defined unmet need, and the training of surgeons and surgical care providers is an essential component of the strategy to improve surgical care and address the unmet need. Modern day approaches to training require that we must address both the technical competency and non-technical skills of the surgeon. This must be achieved in a standardised and measurable way. To do so has meant that we, as the trainers of the next generation of practitioners, must embrace new technologies and training opportunities,” said Professor Martin Smith, the Head of the Department of Surgery in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Wits University. “We are very grateful that through the support of the University and the contributions of a number of donors we have been able to establish a facility to enhance and improve this training.”
