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Riana Bornman, MD, DSc

Professor of Public Health, University of Pretoria, School of Health Systems and Public Health

VHEMBE: unique research opportunities for global health challenges

ALL ARE WELCOME

Abstract:

The Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, South Africa in the north-eastern corner bordering Zimbabwe and Mozambique is a hotspot for malaria. Indoor residual spraying (IRS) using dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) and pyrethroids is the main vector control intervention implemented by Government.聽 DDT was introduced for IRS in the 1940s and in particular villages is still annually applied for malaria vector control.聽 DDT is a toxic chemical, a persistent organic pollutant (POP) with estrogenic properties, while the persistent metabolite dichlorodiphenyl-dichloroethylene (DDE) is anti-androgenic.聽

Since 2003 most of our research in Vhembe addressed environmental and human health associated with the endocrine disruptive exposure to DDT and DDE.聽 In 2012 a field office was built on the campus of Tshilidzini Hospital, Thohoyandou to provide offices and a laboratory for the NIEHS funded study 鈥淚RS Insecticides for Malaria Control and child Neuro-development in South Africa鈥�.聽

The study referred to as the Venda Health Examination of Mothers and Babies in their Environment or VHEMBE recruited 752 mother-baby pairs at delivery and the two-year follow-up was recently completed.聽 Funding by CHIR made it possible to continue with the birth cohort VHEMBE 2 examining 聽鈥淓xposure to IRS Insecticides for Malaria Control and Immune Function in South African Children鈥�.

The VHEMBE birth cohort established in a remote rural area where people live in poverty, with local VhaVenda women trained to perform highly skilled procedures, the cohort and facilities offer unique opportunities to interested scientists from all disciplines.聽 By building the capacity of communities address the public health problems they face, VHEMBE is advancing global health.

Bio:

Riana Bornman MBChB, MD, DSc is a Senior Research Professor of the School of Health Systems and Public Health at the University of Pretoria Faculty of Health Sciences in South Africa. Dr. Bornman is a current Co-Investigator on the VHEMBE 2 project. She has been conducting fieldwork in Vhembe since 2003, has built partnering relationships with various Tribal Authorities and is familiar with the rural communities. Dr. Bornman has worked closely with the Limpopo Department of Health and Social Development and the Limpopo Malaria Control Programme on studies for the South African Medical Research Council, the South African National Research Foundation and the Water Research Commission to evaluate the potential health and environmental effects of DDT use. She has conducted research at the Tshilidzini Hospital on a study of DDT and semen quality and on urogenital birth defects in boys in Limpopo.