Page 41 - A Widening Idea of Health and Health Research - The South African Medical Research Council from Creation to COVID
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A Widening Idea of Health: The SAMRC from Creation to Covid
research on primary health care as a most important area that needs development in
the immediate future.’ There was now ‘an increased need to provide accurate data
3
on deaths, births and disease in South Africa’s varying communities in order to plan
properly for health care structures for the future’. He had come to recognize, he
4
explained, that ‘epidemiological surveys are a very important component of medical
research. The information gained from epidemiological studies can measure the
extent of a problem, give insights into its aetiology, provide guidelines on which to
base preventive measures, and indicate how successful such measures have been’. In
5
short, it was up to the MRC and the country’s medical researchers ‘to ensure progress
in medicine is of equal benefit to both the developing and developed communities’, he
told the Sunday Times. 6
The top management of the MRC, 1988-1998. Left to right: Professor Walter Prozesky
(president, 1993–1998), Dr Philip van Heerden (president, 1988–1992), Mr George van
Rensburg (chief executive director).
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