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Watch the TWAS Conference live! October 20, 2009

Posted by Andrea in : Uncategorized , add a comment

http://www.livestream.com/twasconference2009

TWAS Conference approaches: the final countdown October 13, 2009

Posted by Andrea in : Events, International Relations, Liaison , add a comment

Preparations for the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) 11th General Conference to be hosted by ASSAf at the International Convention Centre (ICC), Durban from 19-23 October 2009 are well underway. Over 400 TWAS Fellows and invited guests are scheduled to attend what promises to be a momentous event. The theme for this year’s conference is “Science for Africa’s Development”. TWAS Committees and Council will assemble for two days prior to the start of the conference. Science and Technology (S&T) in South African will be showcased in a symposium comprising invited presentations from the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and representatives from the Centres of Excellence in South Africa. (more…)

The state of HIV/AIDS clinical trials in South Africa August 18, 2009

Posted by Phakamile in : Health Studies, Projects , 1 comment so far

Clinical trials in South Africa are taking place almost in every province and majority of them are HIV/AIDS -related because of its high prevalence in the country. The good thing about this is that the communities in which these trial are carried out get to benefit by the level of HIV awareness information and education they receive. Through this education and awareness this contributed in the decreasing the level of new HIV infections.

However, the level of acceptance of these clinical trials in these communities is not always smooth sailing. Some of the main issues include: volunteering vs ‘guinea pigs’, re-imbursement and ethical aspects. Some communities, despite being fully informed, regard being reimbursed for volunteering in these trials as a form of coercion to join them.  Others regard volunteers of these trials as guinea pigs. To address these issues communities are always reassured through communuty meetings and education.

SciELO SA goes live! August 13, 2009

Posted by Susan in : Open Access Scholarly Publishing , add a comment

ASSAf’s Open Scholarly Publishing team has been involved in the launch of a  pilot site for SciELO SA, initially on the ScieELO Brazil site, has been established using their existing hardware, software, and mark-up processes. (more…)