Welcome
Over the last 17 years the Foundation has in South Africa established itself as an effective organization attracting and continuing to collaborate with a number of international organizations including the
Since its in inception the Gastroenterology Foundation of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has raised over R50 million (approximately $3.0 million USD) in the form of generous pledges from the pharmaceutical and the device industry. It has sponsored 20 research grants, 102 travel awards to fellows in training for international travel and 415 local travel awards. In addition, we have awarded two international scholarships, one to Brown University in the USA and two to Oxford University in the United Kingdom. In 2022 we assisted with a Fellowship to Ghent for advanced endoscopy and in 2023 we have facilitated 2 fellowships – one for Liver transplantation at Kings college hospital and the other in IBD at St Thomas’s hospital London.
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GHASSA
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GHASSA Overview |
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Project ECHO Sub Saharan Africa |
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G-ECHO weekly Wednesday webinars
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GHASSA Events |
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Event: Liver Interest Group Meeting Date: 26 October 2024 Venue: Radisson Gautrain, Sandton, Johannesburg |
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Event: Gastro Foundation IBD Interest Group Meeting Date:Saturday 16 November 2024 Venue: The Vineyard Hotel, Cape Town |
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Event: Gastro Foundation Liver Update Meeting(Cape Town) Date: Saturday 7 December 2024 Venue: The Vineyard Hotel, Cape Town |
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Articles | |||
News
South African Hep B Guideline meeting , November 2024
On Saturday, 2nd November 2024 the Gastroenterology Foundation Saharan Africa facilitated a meeting between leading Hepatologists in South Africa and the Department of Health.
The purpose of the meeting was to formulate guidelines for the screening and treatment of chronic viral hepatitis B in South Africa.
The discussion focussed on the pregnant mother and on the prevention of mother to the child transmission of the hepatitis B virus - PMTCT
In addition an urgent need to expand Universal birth dose vaccine for hepatitis B to all infants at birth was discussed.
The meeting was lively and cemented a good working relationship with the Department of Health which hopefully will lead to increased awareness and access to treatment for chronic viral hepatitis in South Africa.
On Saturday, 2nd November 2024 the Gastroenterology Foundation Saharan Africa facilitated a meeting between leading Hepatologists in South Africa and the Department of Health.
The purpose of the meeting was to formulate guidelines for the screening and treatment of chronic viral hepatitis B in South Africa.
The discussion focussed on the pregnant mother and on the prevention of mother to the child transmission of the hepatitis B virus - PMTCT
In addition an urgent need to expand Universal birth dose vaccine for hepatitis B to all infants at birth was discussed.
The meeting was lively and cemented a good working relationship with the Department of Health which hopefully will lead to increased awareness and access to treatment for chronic viral hepatitis in South Africa.
Conference Review:
African Viral Hepatitis Convention 2024
GHASSA Articles
COVID-19 ECHO Clinic
As a Hub, the Division of Hepatology and Liver Clinic in the Department of Medicine, Groote Schuur/UCT has been hosting “Viral hepatitis in sub-Saharan Africa” ECHO clinics aimed at delivering expertise on the management of viral hepatitis to under-resourced regions. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Project ECHO at The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque has expanded our licence to run weekly COVID-19 clinician-based virtual meetings on the ECHO ZOOM platform, featuring both international and national clinicians and researchers. These weekly meetings are facilitated by Profs Wendy Spearman and Mark Sonderup and chaired by Prof Graeme Meintjes, Infectious Diseases Specialist, Groote Schuur Hospital/UCT together with a panel of experts including infectious disease specialists, respiratory physicians, critical care specialists, cardiologists and rheumatologists.
These past presentations are available as recordings on the Department of Medicine website www.medicine.uct.ac.za/covid19-echo-clinic
Supported by the Gastroenterology Foundation of Sub Sahara Africa.
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Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol 2017;2: 900-909
Hepatitis B in sub-Saharan Africa: the current status and recommendations for achieving elimination by 2030 -
Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol 2022 10: 952 -972
Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Sub-Saharan Africa: epidemiology, risk factors, and challenges in diagnosis -
Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol 2022 11: 1036 - 1060
Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Measures to improve the outlook in Sub-Saharan Africa
COVID-19 ECHO Clinic
As a Hub, the Division of Hepatology and Liver Clinic in the Department of Medicine, Groote Schuur/UCT has been hosting “Viral hepatitis in sub-Saharan Africa” ECHO clinics aimed at delivering expertise on the management of viral hepatitis to under-resourced regions. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Project ECHO at The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque has expanded our licence to run weekly COVID-19 clinician-based virtual meetings on the ECHO ZOOM platform, featuring both international and national clinicians and researchers. These weekly meetings are facilitated by Profs Wendy Spearman and Mark Sonderup and chaired by Prof Graeme Meintjes, Infectious Diseases Specialist, Groote Schuur Hospital/UCT together with a panel of experts including infectious disease specialists, respiratory physicians, critical care specialists, cardiologists and rheumatologists.
These past presentations are available as recordings on the Department of Medicine website www.medicine.uct.ac.za/covid19-echo-clinic
Supported by the Gastroenterology Foundation of Sub Sahara Africa.
Blog
 Dr Innocent Francis |
The 15th Gastroenterology Foundation Fellows Meeting
It was indeed a privilege to be part of this meeting, having participated in three previous ones. The meeting was held between the 19th-21st of April 2024, at the renowned Lord Charles Hotel, which is situated at the foothills of the Helderberg mountains on a 22 acre of picturesque landscape with a calm serenity; a very ideal location for this meeting. It was the fellows’ second meeting in this hotel. Upon arrival, we were greeted with a buffet, which eventually turned out to be an ideal socializing joint for the fellows. Citing the fellows from other institutions was more like a spark of lightning that immediately ignited a deeper fellowship with a calming effect after the hustling and bustling from hospital work. read more |
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 Prof Kassianides |
IBD & ENDOSCOPY INTEREST GROUP MEETING The penultimate meeting of the Gastroenterology Foundation of SSA was held at the Vineyard Hotel in Cape Town on 28th October 2023. For the first time we combined two subspecialties - Inflammatory Bowel disease and Endoscopy. The meeting attracted over 90 participants of which half were virtual participants. read more |
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