In The News

First Merle A. Sande Health Leadership Award Winner Announced

March 23, 2010, Washington DC: Accordia Global Health Foundation is pleased to announce the first recipient of the Merle A. Sande Health Leadership Award: Professor Willem Daniel Francois Venter, a South African infectious disease clinician and researcher.

The award is given annually to an emerging African health leader who has contributed to the field of infectious disease and who embodies the passion, intellectual drive, and spirit of Dr. Merle A. Sande, one of Accordia’s founders. Dr. Sande, pictured above, was a renowned infectious disease specialist and a leading force in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Like Dr. Sande, Professor Venter has a passion for helping the people of Africa affected by HIV/AIDS.

“As a South African, I believe that HIV and its complications expose the fault lines within our society—whether it be issues of access to affordable medicines and decent healthcare, issues of sexuality and gender imbalances, the effect of poverty on vulnerable populations, the lack of leadership within African countries in issues of public health, and the lack of coherent response to a disease that is preventable, common and treatable. HIV's direct effect on the public health system in South Africa… has been devastating,” Professor Venter said.

Professor Venter leads the HIV Management Cluster for the Reproductive Health and HIV Research Unit (RHRU) at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. The RHRU was among the first research teams to provide staff and research expertise to the large-scale antiretroviral roll-out in South Africa’s public sector. Professor Venter’s research has spanned a number of important topics including HIV and tuberculosis co-infection and drug-resistant forms of HIV. His work has been published in scientific journals and books.

When announcing Professor Venter as the inaugural winner of the Merle A. Sande Health Leadership Award, Accordia’s President, Dr. Warner Greene, said, “Professor Venter has and continues to contribute important advances in HIV care in South Africa and the surrounding region. His leadership promises to inspire many others in Africa and the world for years to come. His many accomplishments in research and training embody the legacy that Merle Sande left behind, and like Merle, Professor Venter tenaciously pursues his efforts to improve HIV care in Africa with a singular passion.”

As the 2010 recipient of the Merle A. Sande Health Leadership Award, Professor Venter will visit the Infectious Diseases Institute in Kampala for two days in April 2010, conducting lectures, giving case presentations, and presenting a keynote address to researchers, physicians, other medical professionals, and guests from the surrounding global health community.

More Information