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SABRI
The South African Brain Research Institute
Annual Report for
2006/2007
ã State hospitals
install PAN equipment
ã SABRI’s CEO invited to join editorial board of
prestigious journal
ã SABRI’s lectures on
PAN draw enthusiastic responses for audiences throughout SA
ã SABRI workers
publish a prestigious Cochrane Review
South African Brain Research Institute
Incorporated association not for gain
Reg
No 1982/000063/08
PBO No 18/11/12/2888
Fund
Raising No 001-356 NPO
Telephone (011) 786-2912
Fax (011) 786-1766 E-mail: mag@sabri.org..za
Website www.sabri.org.za
BENEFICIARY OF: NATIONAL LOTTERY DISTIBUTION TRUST
We mentioned in an earlier Annual
Report there that ‘as a developing, Third World country, funding is extremely
limited and is often devoted to projects which are more easily seen as helping
the previously disadvantaged community.’
Most funding agencies, including the private corporate social
responsibility sector, remain with the conviction that pure scientific work
does not fall within their ambit. HIV-AIDS has become a ubiquitous preoccupation
of almost all companies.
As detailed last year, SABRI’s
existence over the last year owes itself mainly to the donation of a single
private individual, a cousin of the late Dr Lichtigfeld. We are very grateful for this assistance. It
came in the nick of time, bridging a very lean period. Previously, we mentioned that we were
embarking on a two-pronged program to attract funding.
The one thrust, relates to basic
scientific research. Through bitter experience, garnered over the last 12 years,
largely due to the apathy of the South African corporate funding sector towards
scientific research, we have found that it is fruitless to approach local and
indeed overseas companies. Both these potential donors believe it is
inappropriate to fund South African brain research.
As a result, we have directed our
requests for research funding to the
Sadly, the war in
SABRI’s other thrust is directed at
local funding bodies. We have been attempting to educate the local corporate
donors and the public about the intimate link between HIV-Aids and risk-taking
behaviour. As forecast, we have expanded SABRI’s role in health professional
education considerably since last year.
To do so, we have used SABRI’s extensive experience in education. This
is a resource that we have nurtured almost since SABRI’s inception.
We believed, correctly as it has turned
out, that our training and capacity building program fits more readily into the
aims of many S.A. Corporate Social Investment programs, providing practical grass roots applications
of SABRI’s work, rather than pure scientific research. As a result, we have attracted some very much
needed local funding.
Although this funding, including a
grant from the National Lottery Distribution Trust is quite limited, it is a
major start. As a result, we are much
more optimistic about SABRI’s future.
Even with these limited resources we
have begun to spread the fruits of our research into areas of urban and rural
need. As this intervention spreads this will assist in empowering the
previously disadvantaged in underdeveloped areas in
It will also help to prevent HIV-Aids,
TB and other diseases and social ills (including child and women abuse), which
are directly linked to substance abuse. Although our efforts to raise funding
have proved very trying over the last year, our search for financial support
has positive implications on its own. It
raises the awareness of SABRI’s important research and training programs
amongst many sectors that were unaware of SABRI’s vital work.
Fortunately, despite these
difficulties, there are still wise local corporate social responsibility
donors, that believe SABRI’s work is worth supporting. A list of SABRI’s distinguished sponsors is
appended at the end of this annual report.
It is with a sense of pride that we can say that their confidence in
SABRI has not been wasted. As will be
seen below, progress has been made in getting SABRI’s findings to those who
most need it most. As slow as it might
seem, major barriers have been overcome and we are confident that SABRI will
continue to benefit to
PROGRESS
IN SOUTH AFRICA
The PAN (psychotropic
analgesic nitrous oxide) therapy discovered by SABRI had been officially
accepted since January 1992 by SAMA (S.A. Medical Association). It is also listed by the Health Professions
Council of SA (HPCSA) as an officially recognised treatment for addictive
withdrawal states (tariff codes 0203/0204).
Apart from SA, the gas
therapy has also been used successfully for many thousands of patients in
Because it is safer, much
quicker and provides lasting and superior relief from withdrawal symptoms than
do sedative-based therapies, most patients (90%) can be treated as outpatients.
Thus, eliminating costly unnecessary bed occupations.
Also, patients can continue
working during treatment, thus contributing to the economy. It virtually
eliminates the use of expensive addictive sedative drug therapies.
The PAN therapy is therefore economical, with vast potential
savings to both public and private health providers. Despite the limited funding locally there
have been a number of important, indeed decisive developments:
- SABRI’s CEO has
lectured throughout SA to very receptive audiences, on the usefulness of
PAN for treating addictive withdrawal states and its benefits as a safe
conscious sedation agent for minor surgery. Here, it can be used without an
anaesthetist. A trained nursing
sister can complete minor surgical
operations without direct medical supervision while administering
the PAN in combination with local anaesthetics.
- These two
applications make PAN an almost ideal agent for emergency departments at
hospitals and more significantly Primary Healthcare Facilities (PHCF). In
many minor cases it obviates the need for costly general anaesthetics and
inpatient treatments.
- The
- Reports from
the various facilities in SA, where the treatment is used, including the
latest 3 centres to install the equipment, i.e. in Nelspruit, Polokwane
and near Graaf Reniet have been very favourable. Of particular importance is that the
Family Outreach Centre near Graaf Reneit is devoted exclusively to
treating those who abuse opiates (e.g. Welconol).
- Family outreach
report excellent results when using PAN to treat acute opiate withdrawal
states. This is a major
development, because it validates the view by SABRI investigators that PAN
would be an excellent agent for this problem. Because the problem of
heroin and other opiate abuse is becoming increasingly more widespread
this has major potential to assist those treating opiate abuse in SA.
SABRI'S INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS & RECOGNITION
SABRI’s CEO has received
further international recognition. He was invited to be a member of the
editorial board of the prestigious scholarly journal ‘Current Substance Abuse
Reviews.’
As mentioned above, although we
continue to publish in international journals, our international collaboration
has been put on hold. Nonetheless, Professor George Rebec Head of the Neural
Science Program at Indiana University (at Bloomington) continues to believe
that despite the limited funding available in the USA at the moment that our
time will come, when this obstacle will be lifted. His continued support, fills us with
continued hope for the future.
Professor Rebec has already provided
experimental support from basic animal research demostrating the anti-craving
effects of PAN and therefore underpinning the use of our homegrown treatment
for addictive withdrawal states. An independent French group has provided
further experimental support for SABRI’s research. .
The Cochrane
Collaboration, an internationally based group of scientists interested in
evidence based medical research and its application to clinical practice has
invited SABRI to participate in their activities. The invitation came directly
from their European centre in
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The co-operation of the many
organisations is gratefully acknowledged. Both Heidi Pryer and Carol Johnson
have left their posts as directors of
Dr Mark A Gillman
Chief Executive Officer