OECD Survey on the STI policy responses to Covid-19

⇤ OECD Survey on the STI policy responses to Covid-19

South Africa

Updated on: 2020-03-29

	Response
Q1A. What arrangements, if any, do you have in place to ensure scientific advice informs national policy and decision making in relation to Covid-19?	The South African Department of Health coordinates national response to COVID-19 pandemic, which in turn engages through Cabinet’s National Command Council for decision-making and coordinating the management of interventions by various institutions and individuals. The scientific advice to government take many forms. However, there are two most noticeable ones. Namely, it goes through formal channels such as the Health Ministerial Advisory Committee whose research subcommittee is chaired by the President of the Medical Research Council. Advice is sought and offered daily. Second, there is a COVID 19 Research and Innovation Group, which is focusing on the scaling up of testing, surveillance and clinical research. Given that COVID-19 is not just a public health matter, it has implications on water, human settlements, economy, employment, agriculture and equality. In this regard, various Science Councils, the Academy of Science of South Africa and the National Advisory Council on Innovation and higher education institutions and individual experts continue to provide scientific advice proactively or at the behest of government. South African society is highly engaged. In this regard, public statements and articles are being published in various media platforms (including conventional media [television, radio, print] and social networks) to inform and help to shape the current and future response to the pandemic.
Q1B. In what ways, if any, are you coordinating on Covid-19 STI responses at international level?	The Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) is engaging with international partners at bilateral and multilateral level to establish links and possible partnerships for rapid responses to the pandemic. These engagements include the following: • The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) South Africa will participate in the Virtual Ministerial Dialogue on the role of international cooperation in science and Open Science to combat Covid-19 due to take place on 30 March 2020.. • African Union (AU) Commission South Africa is exploring collaboration with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to support the operationalization of the African CDC platforms for clearing and sharing research results and scientific information on the fight against the virus. Virtual discussions on the platform among eminent scientists can also contribute to the identification of knowledge gap on the virus that can lead to research topic that network of African researchers can embark on research issues. • The Southern African Development Community (SADC) South Africa is exploring to harness the capability of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Flagships, namely the Southern African Network for Bioscience (SANBIO) and the Southern African Network for Water Centres of Excellence (SANWATCE) to respond to COVID-19. • International Science Council (ISC) South Africa will further support the African Open Science Platform (AOSP) to enable open access and data sharing in support of the fight against COVID-19. • European Union (EU) South Africa is planning to join a call for proposals to be issued by the European Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), by adding funding to enable South African participants to develop Southern African regional networks. The call will cover topics such as: understanding the history of the infection; improving surveillance capabilities; developing point-of-care diagnostic tests; supporting clinical management of clinical trials for diagnostics and therapeutics; and validation and adoption of serological tests. • China Extensive bilateral research and innovation cooperation is being explored.
Q2.Do you have dedicated arrangements in place for communicating science advice and for refuting misleading information to the public on Covid-19?	• The South African Government has published regulations under the Disaster Management Act 2002 specifically dealing with “fake news” and Covid-19. Under section 11(5) of the regulations, it becomes an offence to publish a statement through any medium with the intention to deceive about Covid-19, anyone’s Covid-19 infection status or government measures to address the pandemic. The penalty is a fine or imprisonment for six months, or both. • The Department of Health, supported by the entire government communications machinery, has led efforts to raise awareness among the general public around screening and detection, prevention, hygiene control and the importance of social distancing. • Also, the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in collaboration with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), embarked on an Immediate public survey via social media to understand SA public's knowledge about COVID-19, how prepared people are to care for themselves and for other and how they feel about it. The purpose is to identify the attitudes and behaviours of key informant groups, i) taxi drivers, ii) religious leaders, iii) traditional leaders, iv) homes for elderly, v) informal tavern owners, vi) CEO's of private companies, vii) health care workers, viii) Medical aid schemes. This will be follow-up with qualitative research.
Q3. What new STI policy measures, if any, is your country taking to respond specifically to the Covid-19 crisis?	• As a first step, the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) has redirected R4 million (€219,000) from some of its projects to research on COVID-19. The Department is supporting local research that will focus on surveillance, therapeutics and understanding the local epidemiology and natural history of the virus. An additional R3 million has been available from the International Cooperation and Resources (ICR) Funds within DSI for international cooperation. • Secondly, the Department has availed R12 million for SA testing of drugs for Covid-19 treatment. • The Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) is also considering to make funds available to fund some diagnostic and sequencing work. • The DSI is also engaging with the Department of Health, the Medical Research Council, and the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority with a view to mobilising funding, reprioritising research strategies and creating an enabling ethical and regulatory framework to facilitate research on the COVID-19 virus. • Strategies for the management of mild, moderate and severe COVID-19 infections will be considered and prioritised for further development, costing and implementation. The regulatory and ethics research agenda will include the review and approval of ethical and regulatory challenges pertaining to clinical research. The Department will also prioritise surveillance strategies with a view to funding the top priorities. • Preliminary work on the development of vaccines has started with University of Cape Town (UCT), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Biovac. Also, the South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA) A is currently engaging with other sources of data and modelling groups, refining their assumptions with a view to produce an updated model of the spread of the epidemic over time.
Q4A. At national level, what mechanisms are you developing or relying upon to bring together different STI actors (researchers, industry, government, health sector, foundations, etc.) to effectively collaborate on responses to Covid-19?	• A National Command Council comprising several ministries has been established to implement protocols planned to curb the spread of the virus. Reporting to it is an inter- ministerial sub-committee, which has been established to coordinate a national framework for research on COVID-19. This Committee consists of representatives from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), National Research Foundation, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), and the University of Cape Town (UCT). The overall aim of this sub-committee will be to mobilize funding, prioritise research strategies and create an enabling ethical and regulatory framework to facilitate research. The focus will be to support research that will focus on surveillance, therapeutics and understanding the local epidemiology and natural history of the virus, specifically by mobilising funding, reprioritising research strategies and creating an enabling ethical and regulatory framework to facilitate research on the COVID-19 virus. This effort will, thus, focus on describing the epidemiology of COVID-19, as well as addressing diagnostic, therapeutic, host and viral factors that may facilitate transmission or protect against infection. Research topics being considered include among others: diagnostic tests; targeted surveillance to establish risk factors among frontline staff for service delivery; trials for the therapeutic and prophylactic treatment of health care workers; the identification of antibodies in patients in South Africa who have successfully cleared the infection; and vaccine development. • To enhance the role of data and evidence in supporting the response to the COVID-19 emergency, a central situational awareness platform is also being established at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to provide a single view of the reality.
Q4B. At international level, what mechanisms are you developing or relying upon to bring together different STI actors (researchers, industry, government, health sector, foundations, etc.) to effectively collaborate on responses to Covid-19?	The DSI is participating in several multilateral coordination platforms for facilitated by UNESCO, the OECD, and others. The Department is also maintaining active contact with its sister ministries across the world and the diplomatic community in South Africa to share information and proactively identify opportunities for cooperation. A specific focus is on African regional and continental cooperation.
Q5. What novel approaches, if any, is your country using to address the coronavirus crisis (e.g. use of machine learning, open science initiatives boosting access and sharing of data and research results, development and use of prediction models, etc.)?	Data science is at the heart of the South African response to Covid-19 drawing on capacities across the science system, e.g. from the astronomy and theoretical physics communities. The Department of Science and Innovation through the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research has successfully commissioned and finalized the physical set-up of a core situational awareness platform. Currently, the core of the platform is health data but over time, we intend to integrated the system with other types of data to provide a more robust platform that can provide holistic decision support to the National Command Centre. A joint CSIR and Department of Health team are hard at work in creating a range of data warehouses including the current geographic spread of the disease, current cases, health vulnerabilities, and location of health and other facilities, amongst others. Initial visualisations have been completed and these will be continuously enhanced and improved. We thank the team which worked on this system for the efforts and commitments. Protocols and arrangements are also being facilitated by the DSI to enable the situational awareness platform to draw in information from other sources. This includes the results of the modelling efforts of various modelling teams on a regular basis. Initial work, led by a team at the University of Pretoria, have also started mobilizing continent-wide networks to build databases on covid-19 cases. Of particular strategic importance for the South African response effort is the situation in our neighbouring countries. Protocols and improved management arrangements for the facility will be finalized to protect the health and wellness of the core team. The team has also identified opportunities for accessing key data sets held by the private sector for the explicit purpose of strengthening our situational capacity capabilities. The support of our private sector partners in this regard is crucial. The situational awareness platform is flexible and dynamic and will be improved and customized based on the prevailing decision support requirements of the National Command Centre.
Q6A. What impact on the STI system do you anticipate in the short-, medium- and long-term, and what measures are you implementing to address those?	The situation is fast evolving, thus, it is difficult to predict the exact impact at this time. However, it is clear the impact on South African economic growth will be significant and science and innovation will have a crucial role to play to boost growth, continuing the fight against poverty, unemployment and inequality. The Department is currently finalising the Decadal Plan, which will be an implementation framework for its 2019 White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation and which will include the measures to address the Covid-19 impact.
Q6B. Is support of the STI system part of planned stimulus packages aimed at supporting the economy?	Comprehensive measures to support small, medium, and micro enterprises during this time will also be available to support qualifying actors in the South African National System of Innovation. Our measures specifically targeting the STI system will be communicated in due course.
Q7. Is there anything else regarding the STI policy response to Covid-19 in your country you would like to mention?	Building an evidence base on behavior and perceptions with regard to Covid-19 is an important priority. Thought the Human Science Research Council (HSRC), an online survey is conducted to better understand current behaviours and patterns. As at 27 March 2020, about 2,400 people have responded to the survey. The sample size has increased but a statistician has been commissioned to assess the quality of the responses and data after which analysis can be done. The public will be kept informed on the outcome of the results of this survey. The HSRC is also currently pulling together a range of efforts in this space including work specifically focus on rural communities (SAPRIN), social media sentiment analysis using natural language processing techniques. A number of researchers as well as private sector players have expressed a willingness to assist. Follow-ups are being made on how best they can support a national effort. A call has been made to survey companies in the private sector to join hands with government to better understand the behaviours and perceptions of our people. Through the HSRC a system will be also be introduced of dynamic updates on behavior and perception issues as these will change on an almost daily basis. The Department continue to update the public on measurers that it will continue to introduce working together with other government departments and social partners.