More scientists needed - minister
2012-10-09 21:34
Durban - South Africa must hurry and make the necessary investments to ensure there is a new crop of young scientists, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the opening of the KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV (K-Rith), he said South Africa was one of 22 countries in the world where 80% of the world's tuberculosis cases occurred.
"What we must do now is to develop South African scientists."
He said institutes like K-Rith could provide the country with new, younger scientists.
While the country had many good scientists, they were mostly older and approaching retirement.
The K-Rith facility is a state-of-the-art research facility, to which the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has committed US75 million over 10 years since its inception in 2008.
K-Rith is located at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
HHMI president Robert Tijan said it was the HHMI's first project outside of the United States.
- SAPA
