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Our Expertise

Our Consultancy Expertise

EBS provides research and technological support in the areas of public health and ICT for health to the African countries in order to:

  • Generate evidenced-based knowledge for the promotion of health and prevention of diseases
  • Provide technological solutions to support data gathering as well as to transform data into information for decision-making
  • Support executives in their management of public health projects using technology
  • Support policy makers and others in improving health systems capable of providing quality universal health coverage for their citizens
  • Convene discussion forums that bring civil society, scientists and policy-makers to use scientific evidence to craft solutions to public health challenges
  • Share knowledge through public presentations

Research

Extensive experience in public health research. Dr Shisana (an honorary Professor at the University of Cape Town), President and CEO of EBS, is a leading public health expert in South Africa with expertise in epidemiological studies of communicable diseases and HIV/AIDS, non-communicable diseases, maternal and child health, poverty, gender and inequality, health policy and health systems including health systems quality and financing with respect to universal health coverage. She is widely published on key health and social challenges facing South Africa and has researched public health challenges in the Southern Africa Development Community region. A champion of HIV social epidemiological research, Dr Shisana was a founder and principal investigator for several second generation surveillance systems for HIV. She was one of the founders of the South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey as well as the Maternal and Child Mortality Surveillance in South Africa. Dr Shisana’s ground breaking work done on HIV surveillance is not only cited extensively, but is also used by policy makers to readjust their programmes.

We have a wide network of scientists and organisations with whom we have collaborated and continue to do so.  We don’t believe in working in silos, because the current societal problems require collaboration with people from a diverse background.  We take a lead in conceptualizing a challenge and then hire staff on a project basis. We then invite partners from a diverse group of organizations to leverage their comparative advantage to solve a particular public health problem for public benefit.   We also provide consulting services to clients who request them.

Here are are few examples of how we do our work. Recently, to understand the growing phenomenon of transactional sex as it relates to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) we brought together partner researchers from the Human Sciences Research Council, University of the Western Cape, University of Johannesburg, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, and the Global Network of Black People Working on HIV and conducted a qualitative study.  We also partnered with REPSSI, South African Medical Research Council and Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg School of Public Health to prepare a proposal for a multi – intervention trial to reduce communicable and non-communicable diseases. Recently we have partnered with the following researchers or programme directors to undertake a project that will improve access to quality of health care for people living in remote areas. The partners are Accenture,  Foundation for Professional Development and Biofourmis.

RESEARCH

Currently EBS was developing or is already undertaking research on:

  • Multi-level Intervention Trial to reduce HIV Incidence in Adolescent Girls and Young Women Participating in Transactional Sexual Networks in South Africa (proposal submitted to NIH)
  • Investigation of sexual relationships  linked through electronic communication (field work completed)
  • Transactional Sex and HIV incidence in the South African Tertiary Sector: the search for appropriate interventions
  • Multiple intervention trial for HIV and non-communicable diseases (proposal being revised following review by funding agencies)

Universal Health Coverage

Extensive experience in policy development. Dr Shisana’s vast experience of developing and implementing universal health coverage, began in 1994 when she was appointed the director general of health of the first post-apartheid government under the Nelson Mandela administration. In that capacity she co-chaired a committee of enquiry into a national health insurance in South Africa and produced a policy proposal that led to the implementation of the universal health care policy at a primary care level implemented in April 1996. She oversaw its implementation as part of transforming the entire health care system from a racially segregated health system to a unified one until in 1998. In 2008 she served as a chair of the technical task team to develop a South African national health insurance policy, a task that ended in 2009, when the health minister appointed her as chair of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on National Health Insurance for five years. She is currently supporting the development of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Strategy, which include universal health coverage and contributed to the development of a system to monitor and evaluate progress in the development of universal health coverage, non-communicable diseases and communicable diseases.

She has extensive networks among different stakeholders in government, medical association, private sector, civil society, political arena and academia as well as international policy analyst community working in the area of universal health coverage.

Since May 2014, Dr Shisana chaired the Interim Council of the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University and she is Deputy Chair of the new Council in South Africa, a new university founded to provide health professionals (medical students,nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals) to work in the national health insurance system based on the principles of universal health coverage.

Funding

Studies on HIV/AIDS were led by the President and CEO of EBS while employed as an Executive Director and later CEO of the Human Sciences Research Council, where she founded the Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS programme and an Africa-wide Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research Alliance. As principal investigators for HSRC-led research projects, she was able to obtain substantial funding from many sources, such as the South African National Department of Health, Nelson Mandela Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DFID, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and UNICEF.

Since inception in July 2015, we have provided research and technological support to organisations in the following areas:

  1. Client: Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation. Project: HIV infection in young people. Prepared an educational presentation on Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevention and treatment among young people and suggested possible community based research on enablers and barriers to successful implementation of programmes.(2015)
  2. Client: Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation; Project: Evaluation of the use of Telehealth in the prevention of HIV and presented a case for use of telehealth services (2015)
  3. Client: The Inter-University Council for East Africa and the World Bank. Project: Eastern and Southern Africa Higher Education Center for Excellence (ACE II): Evaluation of proposals to establish Centers for Excellence in Health, Education and Food Security (2015)
  4. Client: Statistics South Africa. Project: Overall assessment of the reliability and validity of the 2016  Community Survey (2016) -analysis of the methodology used in conducting the survey and evaluation of the data obtained to assess whether it is fit for purpose.
  5. Client: Higher Education AIDS Programme. Project: Technical support to strengthen research capacity and publication of scientific articles in the area of HIV/AIDS in Universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training Centers(2015)

Information and Communication Technology

Our team brings a decade of experience with developing web-based solutions to support communications and collaborations needs. For the past decade, our team has supported international agencies, US Federal agencies, regional government entities and commercial clients. Our expertise includes web development, database design, survey design, e-learning, portal deign, intranets, SharePoint, online collaboration, user acceptance related to new technologies, analytics, strategic guidance, governance, and training. A significant portion of our expertise has been directly related to supporting public health, policy and research projects – providing specific technologies to support those areas.