Tell me about the work you do each day.
The really wonderful thing is that I help Team SANBS save lives each and every day.
Being the medical director for the largest blood transfusion service in Africa and certainly one of the best in the world can be a daunting task. I am responsible for ensuring the safety of all our donors, whether they donate blood, platelets or even stem cells, as well as for the safety of our patients who receive these products.
This means that I need to ensure we have the best possible team working for SANBS, that we are keeping up with advances in technology, and that we have a singular focus on quality.
What do you think makes you good at your job?
My curiosity, willingness to embrace change and being tenacious. This, combined with my passion and my relentless work ethic, have helped me succeed in this environment.
What part of your job do you wish you could outsource?
The admin part! That is really not my favourite.
How has the pandemic affected the SANBS?
Covid-19 has affected SANBS on so many levels. It has placed our ability to meet the demand for blood and blood products under significant strain. The clear need to ensure the safety of our staff, donors and other stakeholders had to be weighed against the need to ensure that we had a sustainable blood supply.
While Covid-19 affected SANBS financially, as we needed to implement rapid solutions to the Covid-19 challenges, it has also propelled us to become a far more agile and responsive organisation. We have developed new strategies for collecting blood, we have embraced the online digital workspace and have also created new partnerships and collaborations through the various Covid-19 research projects we implemented.
What do you wish South Africans knew about being blood donors?
Just how precious and fulfilling it is to know that you save a life every time you donate.
I think South Africans take for granted that there is a steady, safe supply of blood and don’t know of the thousands of donors who selflessly donate blood so that it will be there whenever it is needed.
Without blood donors, doctors cannot perform open-heart surgery, many new mothers will die during childbirth and very few cancer patients will survive their treatment. Without reliable blood donors, we don’t have a health-care system in SA.
Tell me more about your research into the management of acute treatment of HIV.
This was very exciting work we did in collaboration with the University of San Francisco, California, and the Vitalant Research Institute. Through the sophisticated testing we perform, we occasionally identify people who have very recently acquired HIV infection.
Previous research suggests that very early initiation of treatment in such cases may influence how the virus affects the immune and other systems.
The knowledge gained from this research contributes to the overall understanding of this disease, how it affects the body and provides insights into how one may in future assess the success of vaccine and treatment programmes.
What did you want to be when you were a child?
From a young age I was easily bored, and reading was my way of escaping boredom. I was a bit of a maths and science nerd and initially planned to be an archaeologist, and then an engineer, even a lawyer. Fortunately, I finally decided to become a doctor, something for which I am very grateful as I love the work I do today.
