UCT R&I Highlights 2020-21 High res - Flipbook - Page 31
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SCIENTISTS DEVELOP NEW
SKIN TEST FOR TB
The new method is a non-invasive, quick and highly accurate way
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MINIMUM UNIT PRICE MAY
REDUCE HEAVY DRINKING
Study reveals the pricing approach is more effective than excise tax at
reducing heavy alcohol consumption.
of detecting the disease.
The new diagnostic pathway, called
A‑Patch, includes nano sensors which
detect TB compounds emitted from
the skin. A specifically designed sensor
array translates these findings into a
point‑of‑care diagnosis by discriminating
between active pulmonary TB patients and
controls, with sensitivity above 90% and
70% specificity.
“This fulfils the World Health Organisation
triage test requirements and has the potential
to become a TB triage or screening test,” said
Professor Keertan Dheda, the head of UCT’s
Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity.
Dheda and colleagues tested the tool on a
sample of 320 people in Cape Town and 316
in New Delhi in India. This study population
included newly diagnosed and confirmed
pulmonary-active TB cases, healthy
volunteers, and confirmed non‑TB cases.
The results were published in the journal
Advanced Science.
About 95% of TB cases occur in
developing countries, including locations
where people live on less than US$1 per day.
About one‑third of the world population has
latent TB, with a lifetime risk of 5 to 10% of
developing active disease.
“Implementing the sensor array approach
into an adhesive bandage is an additional
step towards a simple and cost‑effective
wearable patch to address the TB epidemic
in both developing and developed
countries,” Dheda said.
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Research published in the South
African Medical Journal reveals that
if government were to implement a
minimum unit price (MUP) on alcohol
products, it could substantially decrease
heavy drinking. The MUP could also
impact occasional heavy‑drinking and
intermediate-drinking households.
“A MUP, levied at an appropriate level,
would substantially increase the price.
This, in turn, would substantially reduce
households’ alcohol consumption,” said
Dr Grieve Chelwa, from the UCT Graduate
School of Business (GSB).
Chelwa collaborated on the study with
Professor Corné van Walbeek, director of
the Research Unit on the Economics of
Excisable Products.
It was also found that the MUP might have
more of an immediate effect than an excise
tax. This is because it would target low‑priced
products, which are disproportionately
heavily consumed by regular heavy‑drinking
households, said the researchers.
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ENCOURAGING HOLISTIC
NARRATIVES ABOUT
CAPE TOWN COMMUNITIES
UCT PhD graduate deconstructs negative stereotypes,
and the need for scholars to think carefully about race.
In her recently completed doctoral thesis
‘Researching race, space and masculinities
in Bishop Lavis: A critical ethnographic
study”, UCT PhD graduate Simone Peters
aimed to showcase more holistic and
alternative narratives about Bishop Lavis.
A suburb of Cape Town, Bishop Lavis
is a community where many identify as
‘coloured’. Peters argues that research
involving these men and communities has
painted them with negative stereotypes,
describing them as at-risk, dangerous,
gangsters and criminals.
Peters’ research encourages
readers and scholars to think
carefully about how they talk and
write about race, and the consequences
of their work on these communities.
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