ABOVE: COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SUNDERLAND ALUMNI ASSOCIATION AND GITA RAMJEE’S FAMILY
Gita Ramjee, a South African scientist renowned for her work to expand women’s access to HIV treatment and prevention, died yesterday (March 31) from complications related to COVID-19. Ramjee was the chief scientific officer of the Aurum Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Johannesburg that focuses on HIV and tuberculosis research, and had just returned from a symposium in the UK when she became ill with the virus. She was 64 years old.
“Gita was a vibrant person, a real fighter,” the Aurum Institute’s CEO, Gavin Churchyard, tells the BBC. “That will be my lasting memory of her—how she fought with everything to advance access to healthcare for women in disadvantaged communities.”
Ramjee grew up in Uganda. After the military dictator Idi Amin came to power in the early 1970s, she moved with her family to India ...
