​​For the past two decades, the Africa Centre for HIV/Aids Management, which is part of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, has equipped almost 5 000 students to manage HIV and Aids in the world of work. As new statistics and knowledge come to light, the pandemic evolves and other health, environmental, macroeconomic and socioeconomic challenges arise, the centre needs to continually revise and expand its academic offering to ensure its continuous relevance.

This shift in focus areas and priorities includes contracting specialists in relevant fields. The Africa Centre is therefore delighted to welcome two new lecturers to the team in April. Well-published and accomplished researcher Dr Chioma Ohajunwa will have a significant impact on the centre's research output, while Ms Veranyuh Ngah brings invaluable industry exposure from her work as a nurse. 

Local context and experience ensure relevance​ 

While the Africa Centre has historically attracted students from across the globe, the unique challenges that Africa faces mean the continent remains a key focus in the fight against HIV and Aids. In this regard, Chioma's wealth of fieldwork and research conducted in the South African and broader African context is invaluable. She is also a member of the boards of several Africa-based networks and communities focused on health, wellbeing and sustainable development and has contributed to several books (either as editor or author) about knowledge of and perspectives on health and sustainability in African communities.

Chioma previously worked as a lecturer, course convener and online facilitator at the Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies at the university, where she coordinated the master's and postgraduate diploma course on disability policy analysis during her postdoctoral fellowship. 

Quality research as the foundation of change 

Being a seasoned researcher, Chioma will play a crucial role in enhancing students' research skills and output. “Chioma will support our PgDip, MPhil and PhD students with qualitative research skills and training," explains Dr Munya Saruchera, interim director at the Africa Centre. “In addition, she is full of compassion and empathy, and she brings the benefit of extensive international exposure and experience."

Her role as lecturer will include supervising PhD and MPhil students, of which she has a successful track record, which will greatly enhance the centre's academic supervision capacity. Munya is also excited about the positive impact of Chioma's vast network and host of national and international research projects on the centre's research and publishing profile. 

Strong links between spirituality and wellbeing in Africa 

Chioma's research interests – which include wellbeing and spirituality, inclusive policies, transculturality and indigenous knowledge systems – are closely intertwined with how HIV and Aids are viewed, discussed, treated and managed in Africa. She explains that, when it comes to exploring African indigenous communities' understanding of health and wellbeing, it's important to consider that one is not dealing with a homogenous context, although there is one central concept ─ spirituality.

“The African conceptualisation of health and wellbeing is very much influenced by the concept of our lived spirituality, which is different to the biomedical approach to health that we find in other global regions," Chioma says.

All health conditions, including HIV and Aids, therefore represent an intersectional, multifaceted experience that requires an appropriate approach. This complexity is one of the challenges that is critical to consider in developing and implementing effective policies. 

Socioeconomic and cultural factors are intertwined with medical outcomes 

The need for this multifaceted approach is also central to the lens through which Vera views the effectiveness of healthcare. After completing her MSc in nursing (during which time she worked as a midwife), she took a position as a research nurse at UCT's Lung Institute, followed by a qualification in public health. This combination of research skills and exposure to community patient care revealed the wide range of factors outside of the healthcare setting that affect patients' wellness and access to basic healthcare. These include family support, stigma, poverty and level of education.

“Patients would come for their routine check-up, but we didn't know if they were actually taking their medication," Vera explains. “A lack of food, no family support, stigma as well as alcohol and drug use are some of the reasons people don't take their medication, which could lead to new infections." She believes that managing these factors in a way that brings about behaviour change is critical if we are to achieve global and African HIV and Aids targets. “I am hoping to contribute to a generation of healthcare providers who see and treat their patients as part of a community with issues that need holistic care."

Before joining the Africa Centre as a junior lecturer, Vera worked as a research coordinator with the Faculty of Medicine and Family Health's Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department. 

United in the objective of holistic policy implementation 

Africa Centre lecturers are carefully selected based on their expertise. In the cases of Chioma and Vera and the skills and practical experience they bring, there is also a strategic element of alignment with the Africa Centre's future trajectory and vision. As Munya says, their involvement “will contribute significantly to the issue of inclusive health policy – beyond the management of only HIV and Aids – to which the centre is shifting its focus". 

For more information about the Africa Centre's academic programmes, visit www.aidscentre.sun.ac.za, or send an email to [email protected] or [email protected].