The Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Pretoria is a relevant and important role player in the primary, secondary and tertiary health care of all South Africans.

The year 2001 witnessed the amalgamation of two separate Faculties, that of Medicine and Dentistry, into an all-encompassing Faculty of Health Sciences. The new Faculty is based on a strong School model, consisting of Schools for Medicine, Dentistry, Health Care Sciences and Health Systems and Public Health, as well as a Division for Sports Medicine. Prof. Thanyani J. Mariba was appointed as the Dean of the new Faculty as from 1 July 2001.

Over the last number of years the Faculty has been very successful in applications for funding from major sources. Furthermore, exchange and research agreements with various foreign faculties of health sciences and universities are in operation, and the Faculty has established public-private partnerships to gain a competitive edge that will ensure that it remains a leading health care faculty - both locally and internationally. Partnerships have been concluded with Medihelp Medical Scheme, the Prime Cure Clinic Group, Netcare, and Curamed, while co-operation agreements have been established with the Provincial Governments of Mpumalanga and the North West Province.

The main research focus of the School of Health Systems and Public Health is epidemiology, biostatistics, health management, environmental health, and health economics and financing. The School has received a $240 000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, which will be instrumental in firmly establishing the School at the forefront of public health education in Africa. Already recognised as a leader in the field, the School will be able to utilise the grant to extend its presence across the continent. This will not only emphasise the importance of public health, but will also strengthen the continuing role of the University of Pretoria in health research.

During the year under review the School of Dentistry has embarked on a programme to organise its research activities into identified research focus areas. These include fluoride and biomaterials in dentistry, oral implantology, oral microbiology, forensic sciences, epidemiology of oral diseases, oral cancer and HIV/AIDS. National and international collaboration in these fields is greatly encouraged and the School's researchers are regularly invited to present national and international courses and lectures in their respective study fields. Individual projects are also encouraged as these could well develop into research programmes. Active research on problem-based teaching is being conducted in close collaboration with the School of Medicine.

Undergraduate students in the School of Dentistry have particularly excelled in research activities during 2001. Three students took part in the Middleton-Shaw undergraduate competition at the annual congress of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR). The competition was won by one of these students, who will now attend the IADR congress in San Diego, USA, as South Africa's representative in the Junior Hatton competition. The same student was also the winner of the SADA/Dentsply student clinicians' table competition held annually between representatives of all the Dental Schools in South Africa.

In the School of Medicine, active research programmes in several departments have resulted in the completion of a number of projects. The Department of Urology's research on endocrine disruptors represents the largest body of scientific activity on this subject in South Africa. The Department has extended its international links during 2001, and this has resulted in its inclusion in the International Quality Control System, as well as in the application in South Africa of two new screening methods for determining estrogenic activity. A member of the Department was also granted a one-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Laval in Quebec City, Canada.

A member of the Department of Anatomy was awarded a Commonwealth grant for the completion of his PhD thesis at the University of Cambridge. He also received the Conrad Lewin Prize for the best presentation at the Conference of the British Association for Clinical Anatomists.

In the Department of Pharmacology the finalisation of the Immunopharmacology research programme represented a big step forward, as this programme will constitute the main focus area of the Department's research and training of BSc Hons and MSc students.

Extensive research by the MRC Unit for Maternal and Infant Healthcare Strategies of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology showed that pasteurisation of expressed breast milk was the answer to the question posed by HIV-positive breastfeeding mothers regarding how to protect their babies from contracting the disease. The researchers have found that both breastfeeding and bottle-feeding pose certain risks and therefore are not safe. For a breastfed baby the possibility of HIV transmission is high. On the other hand, the risk of contamination that could eventually lead to gastro and related illnesses is equally high for a bottle-fed baby. Therefore a heating mechanism was developed to pasteurise breast milk without killing all its good ingredients or reducing its anti-viral properties. The method, called Pretoria Pasteurisation, entails passive heat transfer from water heated to boiling point, which is sufficient to kill the HI-virus.

The Department of Medical Virology - in collaboration with researchers at the Centre for Paediatric Research, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, Virginia, USA - succeeded with the first genetic and antigenic characterisation of a human astrovirus type 8 from Southern Africa. Research conducted in the Department of Medical Microbiology led to the discovery of the first bacterial group A ESBL B-lactamase enzyme able to hydrolyse a carbapenem. This constitutes a milestone in bacterial evolution towards antimicrobial resistance.

The international Swedish collaborative project of the Department of Nursing in the School of Health Care Sciences went from strength to strength in 2001. Two of the Department's lecturers participated in the Linnaeus-Palme Exchange Programme, while two members of the Blekinge Institute in Sweden visited the Department for five weeks as part of the exchange programme. The first phase of a research project conducted in collaboration with the Blekinge Institute was also completed. It focused on the experience of elderly people in Hammanskraal with regard to daily activities, health and illness.

Lastly, research in the Faculty of Health Sciences entered a new phase when medical education was identified as one of its focal areas. Through a research project conducted by the unique Skills Laboratory facility at the Faculty - the first of its kind in South Africa - students' experience with regard to attitude, knowledge and skills was identified, both as interrelated and as jointly contributing to an enhanced process of learning.