CHDS’s Thomas Gaziano and Shafika Abrahams-Gessel recently attended the public research showcase on Health and Ageing in Southern Africa: Addressing Inequities Over the Life Course in Johannesburg, South Africa. Dr. Gaziano who is one of the lead Principal Investigators of the Cardiometabolic Disease Project of the Health and Ageing in Africa: Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI).
The HAALSI project is a partnership of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and the INDEPTH NETWORK and addresses issues around aging in South Africa, as mortality from infectious diseases decline and more adults are surviving with chronic diseases.
Dr. Gaziano presented work on how HAALSI is helping to identify the current burden of cardiometabolic diseases (including the impact of HIV, cognitive decline, mental health, and social determinants and their incidence), levels of detection and control of the burden, the trajectory of disease burden into the future, and the impact of policies such as South African Salt Legislation.
Dr. Judy Dlamini, Wits Chancellor and host of the research showcase noted that “We expect this showcase to be a milestone in adult welling and development in South Africa and African environments – issues that will inevitably affect the achievements of the NHI (National Health Insurance) as well as realization of the Sustainable Development Goals”.
Participants at the showcase included academics, researchers, social scientists, and governmental and societal stakeholders from Africa and eminent scientists leading related studies in BRICS countries, the U.S., the U.K., and Europe. The president of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Dr. Glenda Gray, and the Mr. Thulani Mosilela of the Office of the Presidency: Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, delivered keynote remarks locating the importance of the ageing research in the country’s plans for research and development of policies, including universal health coverage.
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