Page 170 - SAMRC Annual Report 2024-2025

educational opportunities, benefiting a total of 10 the cohort by providing health literacy material,
PhD students and 8 MSc students, who are gaining dispensing a multi-micronutrient supplement,
essential skills and experience in this cutting-edge providing health services and feedback, and
area of research. facilitating behaviour change support sessions to
optimise nutrition, physical and mental health, and
The GRADIENT programme will culminate with a lay the foundations for healthier pregnancies and
final investigators’ meeting, which is scheduled to early child development.
take place in April 2025 at the SAMRC. This meeting
aims to bring together researchers, stakeholders, and The programme included a comprehensive
collaborators to review and discuss the outcomes formative phase and involves a number of
of the various projects funded by the programme. supplementary studies, including 6 projects funded
It also offers a platform to further strengthen and by the SAMRC through an RFA. Besides substantial
enhance partnerships, share research findings, and informative data collected and substantial number of
explore the future directions of genetic diversity publications to date, the project has been extremely
research in relation to TB and malaria treatment successful in capacity development of young
in African populations. The event represents a key researchers. The project includes 13 postdoctoral
milestone in the programme, marking its ongoing fellows and 9 postgraduate students (4 of whom
impact and the collaborative efforts that have have graduated).
shaped its success.
Following a meeting with the HeLTI investigators
Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI) and the Minister of Health and WHO Director
General in April 2023, a workshop took place in May
The Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI) 2024 at the WHO in Geneva to inform guideline
is intended to be a long-term collaborative development for preconception care. This coincided
programme between national research funding with the 9th annual meeting of the HeLTI Council. A
agencies in Canada, China, India, South Africa further highlight in 2024/25 was a HeLTI Symposium
and the WHO that involves linked international held in September 2024 at the SAMRC in Pretoria
intervention cohorts implementing and testing where the team presented the baseline data
approaches to prevent overweight and obesity collected and initial analyses highlighting the health
in children and risk factors for NCDs and improve
early childhood development. The goal of HeLTI is burden already evident in young women and factors
attributing to the risk of these health burdens to
to generate evidence that will inform national policy the Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, and
and decision-making in these areas. The SAMRC
is supporting participation of South Africa in HeLTI colleagues from both the National and Provincial
through the BUilding Knowledge and a foundation Departments of Health.
for HeALthy lIfe trajectories: BUKHALI Trial led by
the University of the Witwatersrand. Bukhali is a
randomised controlled trial to test the efficacy of
a complex continuum of care intervention. Starting
preconception and continuing through pregnancy,
infancy and childhood, the intervention is designed
to improve nutrition, physical and mental health,
and health behaviours of South African women to
offset obesity-risk (adiposity) in their offspring.

The project completed its 8th year in 2024/25. Over
6,000 women aged 18-28 years have been recruited
from Soweto and baseline data collected. The
preconception phase of the trial was completed
in December 2024 and the main trial paper from
this phase is in progress. The pregnancy and Lead researchers from the HeLTI Study, the Deputy
early childhood phases are in progress. The Minister of Health and representatives from the
primary outcome of the study is dual-energy x-ray WHO and the SAMRC gathered at the SAMRC
absorptiometry derived fat mass index in the Pretoria Office on 16 September 2024 for the
offspring at age 5-years. Community health workers HeLTI Symposium.
are delivering the intervention randomly to half

168 SAMRC ANNUAL REPOR T 2024-25