UP academic makes significant headway to better diagnose multidrug-resistant TB

Posted on March 25, 2019

Despite the global decline in new infections, the emergence of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), a virulent strain that has developed an immunity to the antimicrobial drugs used to treat TB, means the disease remains a public health crisis.

“Kidney Health for Everyone Everywhere”

Posted on March 20, 2019

Kidney disease is a global health problem with a growing disease burden in both developed and undeveloped countries. The magnitude and the impact of kidney disease are unknown and will remain so if a concerted effort is not made to develop a national data collection system to acquire data on...

UP providing support for South Africa's SDG reporting

Posted on March 04, 2019

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Pretoria is supporting the South African government in their reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are a universal call to form partnerships to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people...

UP academic pioneers world’s first middle ear transplant using 3D-printed bones

Posted on February 28, 2019

A pioneering surgical procedure using 3D-printed middle ear bones, developed by Professor Mashudu Tshifularo and his team at the University of Pretoria (UP) Faculty of Health Sciences, may be the answer to conductive hearing loss, a middle ear problem caused by congenital birth defects,...

UP Facial Cleft Deformity Clinic changes lives, one child at a time

Posted on February 05, 2019

Music blasts out of Zaskia Botha’s portable hi-fi system in the pristine reception area of the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Facial Cleft Deformity Clinic on UP’s Prinshof Campus, as patients wait to be attended to by its staff.

Cancer needs everybody’s attention, says University of Pretoria professor

Posted on February 04, 2019

The prevalence of cancer is increasing worldwide. Globally, 14 million people are diagnosed with cancer each year, and approximately nine million lose their lives to cancer annually.

UP Head of Family Medicine wins SAMA Lifetime Achievement Award

Posted on December 06, 2018

Prof Jannie Hugo, head of the University of Pretoria’s Department of Family Medicine, was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the South African Medical Association (SAMA) for outstanding, pioneering contributions to the primary healthcare system.

OPINION: New hope on the horizon for treating HIV infection, says Prof Theresa Rossouw

Posted on December 01, 2018

The spread of drug-resistant HIV in South Africa is at a point where about one in five adults and one in two infants that become infected will be resistant to one class of drugs used in the HIV treatment plan. Not taking treatment diligently can also cause people to develop multidrug-resistant...

UP’s Tshwane Insulin Project brings quality diabetes treatment to underserved communities

Posted on November 28, 2018

Tshwane Insulin Project (TIP), a collaborative project between various University of Pretoria (UP) departments, will lead an exciting five-year research programme that will explore the use of remote prescribing to help primary care physicians and/or nurses better serve the needs of people living...

All smiles: UP’s Facial Cleft Deformity Clinic celebrates 35 years of putting smiles on kids’ faces

Posted on November 16, 2018

This year, the University of Pretoria’s Facial Cleft Deformity Clinic celebrates 35 years of helping babies and children with orofacial clefts to be more comfortable, and ultimately healthier and happier. “There are few greater rewards than the happy smiles of a family and seeing a...

‘Pesticides found in local fruit and vegetables could have health risks,' UP academic warns

Posted on October 18, 2018

A study by University of Pretoria (UP) researchers into pesticides in fruit and vegetables from fresh produce markets in Johannesburg and Tshwane has revealed that some had one to three different pesticide residues, meaning they could have harmful effects on the health of anyone consuming them....

'We must celebrate male and female heroes equally'

Posted on October 11, 2018

Anti-apartheid struggle icon Albertina Sisulu was a “rock” to her family and contributed greatly to the nursing profession and to South Africa’s liberation. She should be memorialised for this, and society could emulate her in many ways. These were some of the thoughts shared...

New smiles for 11 Pretoria children at Steve Biko Academic Hospital

Posted on September 10, 2018

The Smile Foundation is excited to have hosted its first-ever Smile Week in Pretoria at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital. The foundation, of which former President Nelson Mandela was the Chief Patron, assists children across South Africa in need of facial and other reconstructive surgery. With...

Health, well-being and sustainable development, intrinsically connected

Posted on August 22, 2018

To achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3 which entails ‘ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages,’ involves strengthening of the implementation of the framework convention on tobacco control and providing access to medicines and vaccines. It also involves...

UP ISMC and libraries bring relief to people affected by malaria

Posted on August 17, 2018

As part of the UP Institute for Sustainable Malaria Control’s (UP ISMC), 2018 Malaria Awareness Programme, its postgraduate student forum started the “Malaria is Everyday” initiative. This initiative recognises that people in rural malaria-endemic communities struggle with the...

New breast cancer research shows promise for the future

Posted on July 30, 2018

A major challenge in cancer research is to find agents that target cancer cells, while leaving healthy cells alone and unharmed. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments can have many undesirable side effects because they damage healthy cells as well.

The power of lightning

Posted on June 25, 2018

Lightning is a natural phenomenon that most people do not fully understand. Its magnitude and force is so great that it has the potential to cause devastating destruction, bringing damage to infrastructure, livelihoods and even life. Yet, it is something many people seem to underestimate and even...

UP academics are category finalists in NSTF Awards

Posted on June 11, 2018

Profs Namrita Lall, Xiaohua Xia, Mmantsae Diale, Kevin Wall and the University of Pretoria Institute for Sustainable Malaria Control (UP ISMC), headed by Prof Tiaan de Jager are category finalists in this year’s prestigious National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) Awards.

Secondment of UP Medical Criminalistics lecturer to the ICRC

Posted on May 15, 2018

Mr Neil Morris, lecturer and course coordinator for the BScHons (Medical Criminalistics) and the MSc (Medical Criminalistics) course in the Department of Forensic Medicine at the University of Pretoria (UP), has been seconded for a year to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)...

Beware of malaria – even in the winter

Posted on May 08, 2018

Malaria transmission in South Africa is seasonal and the months of September to May are malaria- or high season months. The summer rains during the first quarter of the year brings with them an increase in the number of malaria cases and malaria transmission is at its highest during the warmer...