Pictured (L-R): Imtiaz Mohamed (CEO Pharmachem), Yusuf 'Tara' Seedat (SANZAF), Bashir Carrim (Chairman Pharmachem), M. Hoosen Essof (SANZAF)The South African National Zakah Fund and Pharmachem Pharmaceuticals, a generics drugs manufacturing company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will benefit tertiary students. The R500,000 bursary fund, established through the Pharmachem Foundation, will favour pharmacy students but is open to all branches of the health sciences.
The R500,000 pledge will go towards SANZAF’s R6 million annually budget, thereby making SANZAF the largest Muslim bursary provider in South Africa.
The rationale of bursaries dedicated to the health sciences is the seriousness of the 2011 health statistics relating to South Africa released by the World Health Organisation. The following are selected statistics that call for intervention from government, the private sector and NGO’s like SANZAF:
- under 5-year-old mortality rate: 62 per 1000 live births
- maternal mortality ratio: 410 per 100 000 live births
- neonatal mortality rate: 19 per 1000 live births
- unmet need for family planning: 13%
- prevalence of HIV among adults aged 15-49 years: 17.8%
- tuberculosis mortality rate among HIV-negative people: 52 per 100 000
- no improved sanitation: 33%
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