SA’s clinical research output in crisis

Abstract

There are just five black African clinical research scientists with a strong publication record in South Africa -- part of an ageing, shrinking and grossly under-funded academic cadre that creates the ongoing knowledge so vital to handle our debilitating epidemics.
That is according to Professor Bongani Mayosi, Head of the Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town (UCT), and Chief Specialist at Groote Schuur Hospital. Mayosi helped convene a workshop of the country’s top health science educators to brainstorm curricular mechanisms to address the overall paucity and advise government. Speaking during the 15 July workshop, aimed at increasing both the quality and quantity of PhDs in the clinical sciences at South African and African medical schools, Mayosi said that while the principle of centralised funding of academic health complexes had finally been accepted by the Minister of Health,1 clinical research funding remained an alarmingly low government priority.