A life taken too early

THE DEATH of the internationally renowned cardiologist Professor Bongani Mayosi through suicide has put the peril posed by clinical depression under the spotlight. The 51-year-old pioneer’s death on Saturday sent shock waves through the academic and medical fraternities, as he was destined for a bigger stage in his career.

Hailing from a rural background in the Eastern Cape, his rise was mercurial, a factor recognised when he was honoured with the Order of Mapungubwe in Silver, South Africa’s highest honour. Last year Mayosi was elected to the US National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest honours in health care and medicine. In the same year he led a research team that pinpointed a gene that is a major cause of sudden death by heart failure among young people and athletes. This feat has been described as the biggest breakthrough in South African cardiology since Dr Chris Barnard’s first heart transplant in December 1967.

Head of the department of cardiology at Groote Schuur Hospital and dean in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Cape Town, Mayosi has been given rousing tributes. Zweli Mkhize, the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, who trained with Mayosi at the University of KwaZuluNatal’s Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, described him as a “highly revered chief specialist, a brilliant academic and researcher as well as a world-renowned cardiologist”. Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said Mayosi was a transformational leader and change agent who had great dreams for public healthcare.

Mayosi’s family revealed that he had been battling depression for the past two years. Treatment for chronic depression and anxiety – often the precursors to suicide – has never been more available. Yet in many cases, our cultural or societal taboos make it difficult for many to seek help. In our country it’s predominantly men who commit suicide, and men are much less likely to seek help than women, although Mayosi was under treatment. His tragic death turns a spotlight on depression, and the desperation of so many souls who suffer in silence.

It remains difficult, perhaps impossible, to predict who will commit suicide, but help is just a phone call away.

Our condolences to Prof Mayosi’s family, friends and colleagues.