SA Heart welcomes Dr Norah Maitisa as the new pharma industry representative on the SA Heart committees, while Mr Rob Millar remains the device industry representative.

Norah Maitisa is a Medical Advisor at MSD South Africa for Lipids, Hypertension, Diabetes and Pain portfolios. She has also previously worked at GSK’s Respiratory and HIV portfolios. She has worked as a Technical advisor in several NGO’s contributing towards government’s primary health care nurse management of HIV/TB and has contributed in PC101 (TB/HIV) formulation within its working groups. Qualified in 2002 from MEDUNSA, also acquired her master in Science in Epidemiology (MSc Epidemiology) from Wits university.

Cochrane South Africa, South African Medical Research Council is offering three doctoral scholarships for policy relevant non-communicable disease-related research within the low and middle income countries public health context or evidence-based health care. Applications close on 26 November 2018.

See attached for more information about the scholarship including the application form.

Our immediate past president, Paediatric cardiologist Associate Professor Liesl Zühlke has recently won the prestigious SA Medical Research Council/ UK Department of International Development(MRC/DFID) African Research Leader Award.

Read the full story here in the UCT Faculty of Health Sciences Newsletter.

The South African Heart Association in Conjunction with Discovery is proud to announce the first "Discovery emerging leader Award"!

For registration, programme updates, pre-congress workshops, information on faculty and other congress matters please visit www.saheart.org/congress2018 

Online registration closes 17 September 2018, after which only on site registration is possible. Click here to register.

These symposia are part of the programme. 

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Professor Bongani Mayosi on 27 July 2018.

Professor Mayosi was born on 28 January 1967 in Mthatha, Eastern Cape. He studied at what is now the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, earning two medical degrees with distinction. After stints at Livingstone Hospital in Port Elizabeth and then as a registrar in Cape Town in the mid-1990s, Prof Mayosi accepted a fellowship at Oxford University in the UK where he completed his PhD in 2003. Whilst there his interest in cardiomyopathy and rheumatic heart disease developed and he decided to focus on a research-centred career in the field of cardiology – in particular cardiovascular diseases of the poor.

Upon returning to Cape Town, Prof Mayosi assumed research, teaching and clinical responsibilities in internal medicine and cardiology at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital. In 2006, at the age of 38, he was made the youngest Professor and Head of the Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town. He was awarded the country’s highest honour, the Order of Mapungubwe (Silver) in 2009 for his contribution to medicine and dedication to improving the health of people in developing countries and was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Cape Town in 2016.

His A-rating from the National Research Foundation (NRF) counted him among the ranks of leading international researchers and in 2017 he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in the United States, becoming the only African on the highly prestigious list - considered one of the highest honours in the fields of health and medicine and awarded to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. Amongst his many other achievements Prof Mayosi was a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa, a former President of the College of Physicians of South Africa, President of the South African Heart Association 2008 – 2010, Immediate Past President of the Pan-African Society of Cardiology and Chairman of the South African National Health Research Committee.

He was highly regarded for his work in a range of fields with his research interests spanning the genetics of cardiovascular traits, treatment of tuberculous pericarditis, epidemiology of heart failure in Africa and the prevention of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. Last year a research team led by him made international headlines for identifying a new gene that is a major cause of sudden death by heart failure among young people and athletes. Professor Mayosi’s involvement in this research included spending 20 years monitoring a South African family that was affected by this disorder bearing testimony to his tenacious pursuit of pioneering research that can help save lives.

Prof Mayosi was an inspiration to many and a great leader in work that reached across boundaries and touched people across continents, a great friend, who always found time to share in the lives of those around him and a great mentor, whose support and counsel led many to aspire to and achieve what was not thought possible. A man above all men, who believed in lifting as you rise and that ideas are far more important than money, Bongani cared about every part of those he mentored, asking about family and home before the subject of work. He believed to his core that he could be better, do more and serve more deeply.

His loss to South Africa, Africa, cardiovascular diseases of poverty, his family and friends is unfathomable. Professor Mayosi will be deeply missed by everyone who had the pleasure and fortune to cross his path and will always be remembered for his integrity, scientific rigour and dedication to improving public health.

The South African Heart Association mourns the sudden passing of a giant in our community- past-President Professor Bongani Mayosi. His legacy is unfathomable. His contribution to science, to Africa and South Africa was immense. His amazing spirit, deep Wisdom,courage and tenacity will be missed by those who worked with him, were mentored by him and loved him. Hamba Kahkuhle Bongani. Our deepest and sincere sympathies to his wife and beloved daughters.

We will be collating thoughts, sympathies and comments to pass on to Bongani’s wife, mother, daughters and family. Please free feel to share them on or Facebook page or to send to erika@saheart.org for compilation.

A memorial service organised jointly by the Mayosi family and the University of Cape Town will be held at the Memorial Hall, UCT Upper Campus on Thursday, 2 August starting at 15h30 to remember and celebrate the very rich and amazing life of the late Prof. Bongani Mayosi.

http://whf.cmail20.com/t/ViewEmail/r/089C7BF60392C6562540EF23F30FEDED/73EBA018DEDA675BDCCB6820C4466A74 

The National Council Against Smoking is excited to report that they have joined with Amandla.Mobi to set up a petition in support of the Draft Tobacco Bill. You can find it here https://awethu.amandla.mobi/p/smoke-free 

Cardiovascular disease kills more people than any other cause of death worldwide, and tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure contribute to approximately 12% of all heart disease deaths. Tobacco use is also the second leading cause of CVD, after high blood pressure. Despite the known harms of tobacco to heart health, and the availability of solutions to reduce related death and disease, knowledge among large sections of the public that tobacco is one of the leading causes of CVD is low.

Jacques Scherman, Mpiko Ntskehe and Hellmuth Weich gathered at EuroPCR to see the SHARE TAVI ePoster, which looked at some outcomes from the registry with reference to the challenges being faced in our resource-constrained economy, and how this results in difficulty getting funding for appropriately selected potential TAVI patients, who experience a high mortality in the often lengthy funding process.