Women in Science: These three gamechangers are transforming healthcare in Africa
Health is a big topic of conversation in Africa. In particular, women and children are more likely to be impacted by health issues such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and malnutrition. Yet while women represent 70% of health workers worldwide, only 25% of the top health leadership positions are filled by women.
It has been more than a year since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. We speak to three female scientists who are revolutionizing and leading the continent’s fight against COVID-19.
Professor Awa Marie Coll-Seck ( Senegal)
It’s not only today’s scientists that we must encourage, but our future talent too, particularly inspiring young women…I strongly believe in the immense power of young people as changemakers, innovators and leaders.
Professor Awa Marie Coll-Seck’s extraordinary career spans over 40 years. After studying medicine in Dakar, in Senegal, she specialized in infectious diseases, including malaria, measles, meningitis, tetanus, typhoid, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDs and cardiovascular diseases – publishing over 150 papers on these health issues. Following seven years working as Minister of Health and Social Affairs for Senegal – one of the first female leaders to assume this role – she has since been nominated as Minister of State.
Professor Coll-Seck has dedicated her time and expertise to fighting a range of health issues – from serving on the board of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, to her appointment to Ban-KI Moon’s high-level advisory group for ‘Every woman, every child’.
During the pandemic, Professor Coll-Seck is fighting the circulation of fake news and misinformation about the coronavirus. As immunization programs begin in Senegal, her attention has turned to tackling the challenges that come with such programs and engaging communities to play their part in the response to COVID-19.
She says: “Immunization programs have already been proven crucial for accelerating our fight against disease in Africa. Diseases including whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus, measles or meningitis and yellow fever have all been significantly reduced as a result. It is crucial that citizens have access to the facts about interventions like vaccines to make informed decisions about their health to avoid mistrust or misunderstanding. African scientists have an important role to play!”
This year, she will judge the newly established Africa Young Innovators for Health Award, to support young, talented African scientists to develop transformative innovations that could change healthcare in Africa as we know it. She comments “It’s not only today’s scientists that we must encourage, but our future talent too, particularly inspiring young women, as less than 30% of the world’s researchers are female. I strongly believe in the immense power of young people as changemakers, innovators and leaders.”
Professor Glenda Gray, South Africa
No man is going to truly understand the unique challenges and barriers that women are facing…I hope I can inspire other young girls to pursue a career in science like I did, to make a real difference in the fight against disease on the continent.
Professor Glenda Gray is CEO of the South African Medical Research Council, and works as a professor of Paediatrics at the University of Witwatersrand. Glenda was awarded South Africa’s highest award, the Order of Mapungubwe for her leadership and research in mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, policy formation and advocacy.
In 2020, Professor Gray was appointed by South Africa’s Minister of Health as one of 50 Special Advisors on COVID-19 in South Africa. She has since been appointed head of the Johnson & Johnson implementation study, which aims to immunize between 350,000 and 500,000 health workers in the country.
Since the start of the pandemic, South Africa has experienced the greatest burden of COVID-19 throughout Africa, putting extraordinary pressure on the country’s health workforce to control the virus. Professor Gray and her team singlehandedly negotiated with the pharmaceutical company and battled red tape to secure vaccines for their study and get them to health workers in record time. The program has since been rolled out, which she refers to as a “tremendous achievement”.
Prior to the pandemic, Professor Gray specialized in the areas of HIV/AIDS and reproductive health. She explains: “These are both issues that disproportionately affect women in Africa. Diverse representation in science is important, as we all have different motivations or perspectives on an issue which help to uncover appropriate solutions. No man is going to truly understand the unique challenges and barriers that women are facing, so a woman’s experiences can provide crucial insight to finding appropriate solutions for these challenges.”
“I decided I would train as a doctor when I was just a young girl. I hope I can inspire other young girls to pursue a career in science like I did, to make a real difference in the fight against disease on the continent.”
Dr Natalie Mayet, South Africa
Helping protect others against the devastating impact of disease motivates me just as much now as it did when I chose to study medicine at the very early age of 5 years.
Dr Natalie Mayet has been working to improve public health for over 38 years. As a leader in the health service at local government, an Occupational Health Physician responsible for global pandemic preparedness in the private sector and now as the Deputy Director of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases in South Africa, she knows a thing or two about disease, and importantly, how to tackle it.
Dr Mayet is the immediate past Chair of the International Association of National Public Health Institutes for Africa promoting the development of National Public Health Institutes in the 55 member states across Africa, a vision that is promoted through her various roles at Africa CDC. During her career, Dr Mayet was responsible for the South African Field Epidemiology Training Programme and is passionate about developing and building the epidemiology capacity in health systems. This past year has demonstrated the crucial role of field epidemiologists in responding to outbreaks. She re-engineered the Notifiable Medical Condition Surveillance System for South Africa that provides the framework for surveillance of communicable disease.
Dr Mayet set up the country’s first Emergency Operations Centres at the NICD for the National Department of Health that supported previous outbreaks of public health significance such as the listeria outbreak. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, my focus has been on ensuring the latest data on COVID-19 is utilized effectively, to help inform our response to the disease. These daily updates are collated by the efforts of multiple teams functioning in unison to relay information to the Minister of Health, the provincial teams and the wider public”.
“This virus has been a devastating blow to Africa, however I feel it is important that people understand that there are other health crises like TB, HIV, Malaria, non–communicable diseases that have existed long before COVID-19 and that remain a challenge for individuals, for communities and for health services. We must learn from the experiences of COVID-19 to reinvigorate our collective responsibility for our health, strengthen our health systems and protect ourselves against future threats. Helping protect others against the devastating impact of disease motivates me just as much now as it did when I chose to study medicine at the very early age of 5 years. Our focus must be on prevention, the social determinants of disease, and engaging with our communities to find collective local solutions that ultimately contribute to global health security.”
African Voices of Science is an initiative led by advocacy tank Speak Up Africa that champions research and development on the continent. The initiative aims to generate an open public discourse on key health challenges and innovative solutions in Africa, and Africans’ role in tackling them.
