Funding priorities
Health Care - strengthening medical research and service delivery
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African Paediatric Fellowships Programme
Your investment in this project could help fund these vital capacity-building fellowships, valued at R200,000 each. |
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Centre for Clinical Research, Innovation and Training |
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Centre for Public Mental Health
The Centre for Public Mental Health (CPMH), a joint initiative of the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health at UCT and the Department of Psychology at Stellenbosch University, has been established as an inter-disciplinary, academic research and teaching centre for mental health. It focuses its work on mental health promotion and service development in Africa. The Centre is endorsed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and is the base for a recently established research consortium led by UCT, namely the Programme for Improving Mental Health Care (PRIME). It is funded by the Department for International Development (DFID UK) and its partners are in Ethiopia, India, Nepal, South Africa, and Uganda, together with WHO Geneva and the Centre for Global Mental Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, London. In furthering the study of mental health needs and championing its cause, the Centre is currently developing a set of academic programmes: a Postgraduate Diploma and a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Public Mental Health, accompanied by independent short courses. The Centre is also in the process of putting together an advanced research agenda and a record of their advocacy functions. Download the CMPH info brochure (pdf)
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Centre for Substance Abuse Studies
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Faculty of Health Sciences Centenary Campaign
Today, with the stark reality of vast and growing health needs of South Africa's population, the Faculty must draw on all available resources to continue its crucial role in bringing better health to the nation. The 100th anniversary in 2012 presents an opportunity to recognise the impact of the Faculty's past and celebrate the standing it has achieved today. A range of commemorative initiatives are planned, including a centenary issue of the South African Medical Journal. Most importantly, this landmark year provides an ideal platform for the Faculty to start building its next era. The Faculty of Health Sciences needs your support to continue developing new education, research and infrastructure. This is to ensure a strong and sustainable future, strengthening the health of the people of South Africa and beyond. |
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Perinatal Mental Health Project
The Perinatal Mental Health Project (PMHP) addresses the needs of mothers in poverty-stricken communities in and around Cape Town, providing holistic mental health services at the same sites at which women receive maternal care. The project provides mental health screening, counselling and psychiatric services as well as training for maternity staff. Research initiatives ensure a constant improvement and development of the system, while advocacy and policy development ensures best practice tools for the well- being of women and girls across the region. Due to extreme hardships of deprivation, stressful interpersonal relationships, and the effects of physical and mental abuse, the incidences of maternal depression and suicide have reached epidemic proportions. Pregnancy is also the time when most women learn their HIV-status and mental illness has been found to impact negatively on HIV/AIDS treatment, adherence and outcomes. By supporting this project toward its fundraising target of R3.5 million per year, you can help to address the critical need for maternal mental health service delivery, in communities where these services are urgently needed. |
Africa has the highest Infant Mortality Rate in the world. One of the major causes is poor healthcare, a challenge that is being boldly tackled by 
Poor healthcare delivery and the public outcry for a more responsive service stand as the principal concern of UCT's Health Sciences Faculty. It has, in turn, identified the need for strengthening clinical expertise and infrastructure. The Centre for Clinical Research, Innovation and Translation (CCRIT) will focus on the most significant health problems of South Africa and the wider continent, including communicable and non-communicable diseases. A comprehensive plan of action will roll out multidisciplinary research projects, enabling greater collaboration between public health professionals together with clinical investigators. Apart from providing for urgent training and specialization needs, the Centre will also provide resources in which advances in basic scientific knowledge will be translated into new or improved methods of health care. In sparing no effort to advance the process of new clinical investigation, CCRIT will facilitate a range of key services to investigators, including novel technologies and bioinformatics support. In this way it will promote collaboration with other universities and industries to enhance its mission.
In developing countries, depression is ranked as the seventh biggest health burden but too often health services in these countries do not give adequate priority to mental health. 70% of African countries spend less than 1% of their health budget on mental health. Despite the fact that mental health disorders cause staggering economic and social costs, and that it is a crucial public health and development issue, this remains a poorly funded and largely misunderstood area of the public health system in South Africa.
Substance abuse in South Africa has reached epic proportions, now twice the global norm. Its ravaging effect on family life and the larger social fabric of our communities is alarming. The Central Drug Authority of South Africa also reveals that substance abuse costs the economy more than R20billion a year. However, despite these dire consequences, the quality of treatment for substance abuse disorders remains poor. A number of factors contribute to this tragic situation. These include social stigma, the fact that key decision-makers do not consider substance abuse disorders to be medical disorders, and the problem of insufficient funding for research. The Faculty of Health Sciences at UCT is spearheading the establishment of a Centre for Substance Abuse Studies to provide more substantive data around this issue. The Centre will investigate intrinsic elements of abuse and the development of effective, sustainable treatment programmes. The Faculty of Health Sciences at UCT is well placed to drive this initiative since it has a strong commitment to psychiatric sub-specialities, as well as being located close to communities with high prevalences of substance abuse.
In 2012, UCT's Faculty of Health Sciences celebrates 100 years of educating some of the finest minds in the country and producing among the greatest medical advances from Africa. Since the birth of the Faculty in 1912, it has grown in size, scope and impact with around 3000 students now across multiple disciplines. It has a strong reputation for research excellence, producing an average of more than one new research publication every day and playing a vital role in supporting the country's future health practitioners and medical researchers.