[South Africa] Science: The cure for poverty

from The Mail and Guardian

Hila Bouzaglou | Johannesburg, South Africa

Without science and scientists, Africa is doomed to fail in the implementation of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG), Minister of Science and Technology Mosibudi Mangena said at a media briefing on Monday.

He was discussing the role of science in helping South Africa deal with poverty, economic growth and sustainable development.

"We need to be a nation of scientists not only because we are competing with other nations, but more importantly so that we can fight enemies such as poverty, infectious diseases like HIV/Aids, malaria or tuberculosis and lifestyle-related illnesses such as malnutrition, obesity and diabetes.

"We need science to calculate and mitigate the effects of global warming, severe storms, over-fishing, pollution and a host of other problems," he said.

The eight millennium goals, which must be fulfilled by 2015, are: the eradication of extreme poverty by half; the achievement of universal primary education; the promotion of gender equality; the reduction of the death rate among children under the age of five by two thirds; the reduction of the maternal death rate by three quarters; reversal of the spread of HIV/Aids, malaria and other major diseases; sustainable access to safe drinking water; and the development of open trading and financial systems that do not discriminate.

One of the ways the Department of Science and Technology will be fulfilling the eighth MDG -- the development of further open trading and financial systems and making available the benefits of new technological discoveries -- is by hosting the International Science Innovation and Technology Exhibition (Insite) at the Sandton convention centre from September 25 to 27.

"Insite provides us with an invaluable platform to showcase our country's advances in scientific knowledge and to compare and benchmark our achievements with those of our neighbours across the world," said Mangena.

He said that Insite 2006 had been designed to give South Africans direct exposure to technological advances as well as to create excitement among the South African youth for careers in science and technology.

According to the National Survey of Research and Experimental Development, conducted by the Department of Science and Technology in 2005, there were 17 910 science researchers in South Africa, of which approximately 38% comprised doctoral students and post-doctoral students.

Mangena said it is important for South African children to learn science and maths and that the subjects open up many doors.

"There are many distractions out there, ranging from cellular phones to iPods to computers. So we need to remind the next generation that it is important that they become creators of technology, and not just consumers of existing technology," he said.

Entry to Insite will be free to the public. There will be science shows, seminars and a speaker's corner where scientific and technological challenges and solutions for the developing and developed world will be discussed.