Health services and systems, rooted in human rights and social justice.

The purpose of the School is to support and train policy  makers and implementers who are knowledgeable and skilled in the principles and practice of public health

SPaRCS Strengthening Clinical Trials Oversight Workshop

The SPARCS Project hosted a workshop to support increased collaboration and networking between national regulatory authorities (NRAs) and national ethical committees (NECs) on the regulation of clinical trials in Southern Africa and identify priority areas for a framework for effective clinical trial oversight in the region.

SPaRCS Pharmacovigilance Systems Strengthening Workshop

The SPaRCS Project hosted a Pharmacovigilance (PV) Systems Strengthening Workshop, 9-11 July 2023 in Windhoek, Namibia.  The workshop marked the final in a series of capacity strengthening and mutual learning workshops in the Pharmacovigilance Systems Strengthening thematic area, and was attended by fifteen participants from seven countries (Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, and Belgium)

Pharmaceutical policies in health systems Course at ITM, Belgium.

Two SOPH staff members, Hazel Bradley and Renier Coetzee, co-facilitates in a 3-week course that equips participants with the tools to understand, analyse and propose strategies for strenghtening pharmaceutical systems and their role in universal health coverage.

Invitation: Pharmaceutical Public Health Webinar Series

We are excited to invite you to our upcoming Pharmaceutical Public Health Webinar Series, where we will be discussing the latest advancements and challenges in promoting global health through the lens of pharmaceutical public health.

Systems strengthening for pharmacovigilance and regulatory oversight in Southern Africa: Reflections on learnings and future possibilities from a participatory action learning project

Invitation to Public Event

Jakes Gerwel Award in Public Health 2023: Dr Landry Tsague Dongmo

Presentation title: “When two pandemics collide, HIV and COVID-19
– A reflection on the future of public health in Africa”

2023 Annual David Sanders Lecture in Public Health and Social Justice

The University of the Western Cape School of Public Health (UWC-SOPH) and People’s Health Movement for the Annual David Sanders Lecture in Public Health and Social Justice and the launch of the 2nd Edition of ‘The Struggle for Health’

Tackling substandard and falsified health products in a post-COVID world: a multidisciplinary challenge grounded in health systems strengthening

You are invited to a lecture and panel discussion

How gender is socially constructed in policy making processes: a case study of the Adolescent and Youth Health policy in South Africa

By: *Tanya Jacobs and Asha George

Support after stillbirth: Findings from the Parent Voices Initiative Global Registry Project

By: Vicki Ponce Hardy, Alexandra Beedle, Sam Murphy. Claire Storey, Neelam Aggarwal, Rakhi Dandona, Alka Dev, Patricia Doherty, Alexander Heazell, Mary Kinney, Sara Nam, Paula Quigley, Sue Steen Linda A. Vanotoo, Susannah Leisher and Hannah Bloncowe

Stemming commercial milk formula marketing: now is the time for radical transformation to build resilience for breastfeeding

By: Tanya Doherty, Christiane Horwood, *Catherine Pereira-Kotze, Lisanne du Plessis, Chantell Witten

Aspirations and realities of intergovernmental collaboration in national-level interventions: insights from maternal, neonatal and child health policy processes in Nigeria, 2009-2019

By: *Enyi Etiaba, Ejemai Amaize Eboreime, Sarah L Dalglish & Uta Lehmann

Report of Activities 2019 – 2020


We have published reports of our activities every two years for about the past twenty years.

This year we are publishing it electronically for the first time, perhaps reflecting the rapidly accelerated replacement of print with on-line resources (although I don’t think I will change my preference for reading in print). But while the electronic format will make the report easily available around the world, easily readable on mobile phones and tablets, I am also aware that the ubiquitous presence of on-line meetings, digital resources and a world of information that can be tapped any time does not mean equitable access. When we surveyed our students and short course participants last year, we learned that while access has increased substantially, bandwidth, data access and data cost, remain substantial barriers