South African medical science was strongly influenced by its colonial context and by the needs of local industry and general economic development. this broader political and economic context affected what research was done, how it was done, how it was used and who did the research, contributing to a history of unequal access to health care and inappropriate priority setting in
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medical research. understanding this context does not lessen the value of the research that was done, but helps us to understand the nature of some current problems, including the unusually diverse and heavy burden of disease, the mismatch between local burden of disease and medical research, a racially and gender-skewed cohort of medical researchers, under-developed institutional capacity in the production of research and, in some cases, public mistrust of medical research.
The mining industry and government encouraged and influenced medical research (especially of vaccines as potential ‘magic bullets’) in South Africa.
Because of social disruption caused by migrancy, land dispossession and poor working conditions, there was a high prevalence of pneumonia, tuberculosis and silicosis in mineworkers, and nutritional, parasitic and viral disease in mineworkers and farm workers. Internationally, research on these health problems generated highly regarded scientific data, partly because of the large sample sizes, but it did not always lead to in lower disease prevalence in the general population. Nutritional and epidemiological research in South Africa during the 1940s and 1950s was also internationally recognised, but in spite of early initiatives such as the Gluckman Commission, a preventive approach to health care did not emerge until the 1990s.
South African medical research focused more on hospital-based medicine and diseases of affluence than was warranted by the burden of disease at the time, although some of this research has become more relevant today.
Diseases affecting more white than black South Africans in the past, such as porphyria, coronary heart disease, diabetes and myocardial infarction (heart attacks), received significant, although not exclusive, research attention under apartheid. Equipment and funding shortages contributed to innovation in locally developed diagnostic equipment. Local genetic diversity and founder effects in the Afrikaner population, reflective of the increased influence by Afrikaner researchers and institutions under apartheid, fostered important South African research strengths in blood typing, medical genetics and certain genetic diseases. Considerable funding was available for transplant- related research after the first heart transplant in 1967, and this encouraged world-class research in heart and liver disease, and also in immunology and genetics.
Public perceptions of clinical research today are still negatively affected by the close historical relationship between medicine and the colonial state, the often adversarial relationship between medicine and indigenous healing traditions, racism and unethical practice in medical research (real and perceived), and the skewed demographics of medical researchers. Yet there is hope. From the beginning of the 20th century, medical researchers in South Africa began to develop a strong scientific base that can be used to build clinical research in the future. This scientific infrastructure has been gradually reorienting itself to the current burden of disease within a more democratic political context that prioritises the health needs of the majority, promotes more community involvement, and addresses the skewed demographics of health researchers. The challenge now is to find ways of promoting clinical research that builds on the advantages of past investment while actively addressing the legacy of colonialism and racism.
FINDINGS
1. Medical researchers in South Africa from the beginning of the 20th century began to develop a strong scientific base for clinical research in terms of personnel and infrastructure, conducting important investigations into a wide range of medical problems.
2. The burden of disease in South Africa is significantly linked to its history of racial and gender inequality, violence, oppression and enforced labour migration, and to some of the failures of post-apartheid independence.
It is characterised by high levels of both communicable and non- communicable diseases, particularly those that are related to poor working conditions and poverty, gender-based violence and injury.
3. Because of the colonial context, clinical investigations (with some notable exceptions) were largely driven by the needs of the mining and agricultural industry, or focused on curative medicine in urban areas. Thus, clinical research did not always improve the health of the population as whole.
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4. Clinical research in the apartheid years was conducted by a cohort of investigators who were mainly white and male within a system that provided racially unequal access to health care and research training.
Institutional capacity to conduct clinical research was concentrated in a few historically white institutions.
5. Some clinical research in the colonial and apartheid era was racist and unethical, facilitated by an environment of racial inequality, discrimination and high status and wealth differentials under an oppressive state.
6. After 1994, significant strides have been made in reorienting health care and medical research towards the needs of the majority at a policy level, but in practice the tangible benefits of this have been limited by reduced government support for medical research within the health care system, a weak education system, and poor management of existing resources within the health care system, in the face of new challenges such as HIV/AIDS.
RECOmmENDATIONS
1. Clinical research should be repositioned within a more democratic political context to build on the advantages of past investment while actively addressing the legacy of colonialism.
2. Clinical research should actively contribute to the improvement of the health of the nation by actively addressing the largest burdens of disease.
3. The training and promotion of clinical researchers should actively seek to address racial and gender imbalances, and ensure that strong intellectual leadership is built.
4. The funding of clinical research should actively seek to develop strengths wherever these can be best and most sustainably built.
5. Clinical research should be based on strong ethical codes of conduct.