Face to face: “Fail your way to success”, says Prof behind pioneering drug discovery group at UCT

Technical work on the discovery of new medicines is not commonly done in South Africa, or Africa, for that matter. One person who is at the forefront of changing this, is Kelly Chibale, a professor in organic chemistry and founder of the pioneering Holistic Drug Discovery and Development Centre – H3D – at the University of Cape Town. Biénne Huisman spoke to Chibale about his fascinating work and his journey from a village in Zambia, across the world, and back to Cape Town.

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How well is SA’s chronic medicines distribution system working?

Having to collect one’s medicines at overcrowded public sector clinics with long queues can be time-consuming, disruptive, and, these days, may expose one to a risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2. Thabo Molelekwa takes stock of South Africa’s centralised chronic medicines dispensing and distribution programme, the Department of Health’s system for allowing more people to collect their chronic medicines closer to their homes or workplaces.

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Medicines stockouts once again reported in North West

Stockouts of essential medicines have been a problem in North West province for years. Now, a new community monitoring report suggests many people are still being turned away from public sector clinics without treatment or asked to come back a week later. Thabo Molelekwa spoke to the people behind the report and asked the North West Department of Health for their response to it.

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