Media statement

Launch of the MRC National Collaborative Research Programme on Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases

As we face a growing epidemic around heart disease, diabetes and stroke and other non-communicable diseases in South Africa researchers and scientists have converged in Cape Town to find new health research solutions.

“Heart disease, diabetes, and stroke together constitute the second most important cause of death in adult South Africans. Data released by Statistics South Africa for 1999-2006 suggest that by 2003, premature adult deaths (15-64 year-olds) from stroke increased by 28% and 17% from ischaemic heart disease, but decreased in subsequent years. By contrast, sustained increases were seen for diabetes (38%), hypertensive heart disease (20%), ill-defined heart diseases (23%), and kidney disease (67%) from 1999-2006.”

Cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and stroke and metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes are classified as non-communicable diseases.  This group of diseases together with communicable diseases (such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria), perinatal and maternal illnesses and injury-related deaths are contributing to a quadruple burden of disease in South Africa and sub Saharan Africa.

The SA Medical Research Council today announce the official launch of the newly established national collaborative research programme on cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Several initiatives have been proposed to deal with this growing problem.
 
One such is the National Collaborative Research Programme (NCRP) on Cardiovascular and Metabolic disease to be established under the aegis of the Medical Research Council (MRC).   The mission of the NCRP is ‘to formulate and apply an integrated programme of research and capacity development in order to improve the prevention, understanding, detection and management of cardiovascular and metabolic disorders in South Africa,’ says Dr Niresh Bhagwandin, Executive Manager: Research Initiatives at the MRC.

Prof Bongani Mayosi, Head of the Medical School at UCT said that against the background of compelling evidence, there is no doubt that a highly trained cadre of researchers is the key ingredient to tackle health problems in general.  However the challenge is to integrate and harness all of this talent into a cohesive programme of research.  And this needs to be done quickly.

Acting President of the MRC, Dr Ali Dhansay said that this launch is the culmination of two MRC sponsored workshops of key stakeholders and leading cardiovascular and metabolic researchers in South Africa and abroad.  This process resulted in a business plan for the NCRP which was approved by the MRC Board in 2009.

He said that the key objectives of the NCRP on Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease are:

• to understand the mechanisms and measure the burden of cardiovascular and metabolic disease;
• to generate knowledge and translate the evidence into policy and practice;
• to develop and evaluate interventions for the prevention, detection, and management of cardiovascular and metabolic disease;
• to utilise conditions and challenges that are unique to the South African environment;
• to develop research capacity and interdisciplinary collaboration and,
• to develop and adopt new health technological approaches to cardiovascular and metabolic disease.

In keeping with these objectives, the overarching priority of the NCRP will be to build a strong cadre of cardiovascular and metabolic researchers and a strong epidemiological base at a national level. 

This will be achieved through the four ‘pillars’ of the NCRP, namely,

• Establishing Epidemiological Studies to ‘track and fast-track’ the epidemiological transition at a population, clinical, laboratory, and behavioural levels;
• Providing Research Career Development funding for doctoral, postdoctoral, mid career fellowships, and Research Chairs;
• Creating a Research Support Programme through biostatistical and epidemiological support for ongoing projects to improve the quality and outputs of existing work and,
• Supporting a Research Training Programme through short-courses, workshops like the one being held here, seminars, and conferences.

The announcement of who will lead this national programme will be made soon.

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For more information contact: Julian Jacobs on 082 454 4902.