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Director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the University of Cape Town and chief executive officer of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation
hen it became apparent that South Africa was JRLQJ LQWR LWV YHU\ ˋUVW lockdown to contain the spread of &RYLG 3URIHVVRU /LQGD *DLO %HNNHUȢV ˋUVW UHDFWLRQ ZDV SDQLF 3DQLF RYHU KRZ SHRSOH OLYLQJ ZLWK
I and TB would be affected by the lockdown and what impact Covid- would have on the work that had been done to address communicable diseases. As her panic set in, she recalls, she pushed to keep the programmes run by the
esmond Tutu I Foundation open, attempting to ensure that critical research remained unharmed. nce the picture and protocols became clearer, she got involved in research. Some months later, South Africa is currently in the middle of a third wave and Bekker is concerned that the impact of the pandemic will remain for “a very long time to come”.
owever, she is proud to have had an opportunity to play a part in the rollout of the vaccine to healthcare workers.
“From a scientific point of view, it’s been an incredibly privileged position seeing how science can quickly translate into policy and SXEOLF KHDOWK EHQHˋW :H RIWHQ GR work that we see come to fruition months, maybe even years later. With TB, the wheels turn awfully slowly and it’s been e traordinary to see how quickly clinical science could WXUQ LQWR SXEOLF KHDOWK EHQHˋW ,WȢV been almost miraculous for me and really inspiring. I think for other young healthcare workers to have been part of this must have been incredibly inspirational,” says Bekker. She hopes that the momentum gained from tackling the Covid- pandemic is carried forward in efforts to end the
I and TB epidemics. “I think what we showed is that when we hold hands together, Sisonke we are together , we literally can move mountains. I thought it was ama ing to see academics, research centres, and public and community health coming together to say, how do we get healthcare workers vaccinated quickly. I really hope that what was epitomised in Sisonke will move forward. I think we showed that there is work to be done in diagnostics. Again, the country did an e traordinary job of building on what we already had and again moved us forward in leaps and bounds.”
ighlighting the gaps that were e posed by the pandemic, Bekker laments how society “dropped the ball” in its reaction to gender-based violence, which reached alarming proportions during the stricter lockdowns.