University of the Western Cape Hosts David Sanders Annual Lecture
This year the David Sanders Annual Lecture in Public Health and Social Justice took place on 22 May 2023 at the School of Public Health (SOPH). It is the eighth lecture in the series and the first in-person lecture in three years.
The lecture series honours his legacy as the SOPH and the People’s Health Movement (PHM) founder. The latter is a global network bringing together grassroots health activists, civil society organisations and academic institutions worldwide – particularly from low and middle-income countries.
Sanders was a tireless crusader for effective and equitable public health, both locally and internationally. Today, health professionals still follow his suggestions and advice on tackling challenges faced in the health sector.
Professor Fran Baum was the lecture’s keynote speaker
This year’s keynote speaker, Professor Fran Baum, from Stretton Institute at the University of Adelaide, South Australia, painted a bleak picture of the global struggle for health and equity.
She noted: “Overall, as the world, we became a lot less equal. There was already a gap in the 19th century and an even bigger gap in the 1950s and more so in 2015. Africa is especially effected by this.”
Professor Uta Lehmann from the School of Public Health, who hosted the event, said Sanders focused on equality, obesity, food security and commercialised health products.
“He had a great role in driving my own commitment to health equity, which was a main focus of his work,” she said.
UWC’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Tyrone Pretorius, said: “It is undeniable – the struggle does, sadly, continue. Poverty, disease and hunger continue to cripple nations. Last year South Africa took pole position as the most unequal country in the world, according to the World Bank. Hunger in Africa is escalating, with about 250 million people undernourished.”
He told health professionals who attended the lecture: “If ever you doubted how crucial your work in this space is – please stop. We are exceedingly proud of the School of Public Health, but if we look at the current state of this country, we have to strengthen our resolve and soldier on for the sake of humanity.”
Furthermore, he called on them to draw on all their networks to make an impact and asked roleplayers to continue their mission.
Relatives, fellow academics, management and community health workers from the PHM gathered to testify of and celebrate the late professor’s selfless work in the community.
Host Prof Uta Lehmann
PHM health workers of the Manenberg branch shouted slogans, including: “Forward to the living standards of David Sanders!”
“David was a father figure who taught us the basics of community health care,” said Nowhi Mdayi.
“He was a planner and a mentor who would watch how many teaspoons of sugar you add to your coffee. He was all about health.”
Prof Sanders’ book, the 2nd Edition of The Struggle for Health, was launched on the day.
Dr Wim De Ceukelaire, Managing Director at Viva Salud, Brussels, Belgium, and co-author, described Sanders’ first book as one which offered solutions to problems.
“The book, focused on the struggle for health for women and children in Zimbabwe, has a human touch. It is real life written in plain English, with a love for the poor and the exploited,” said Dr Ceukelaire.
He said Prof Saunders helped him see healthcare from a non-privileged perspective: “I had to unlearn, and adopt the opposite class’s perspective.”
He described Prof Saunders as a meticulous scientist, who wanted to see the whole picture. He would speak to the community; to teachers, mothers and cleaners.
Dr De Ceukelaire noted that the second edition is freely available online. “It is a collective undertaking that everyone can be part of.”
Prof Sanders’ wife and Emeritus Professor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Cape Town, Sue Fawcus delivered a talk, ‘The Struggle for Health and Equity Continued’.
She said it was a challenge to finish this book, which he had been working on at the time of his death.
The latest book is a continuation of his work: a strengthened call to action, building upon the original work and advocating for systemic changes to ensure justice and equity in health for all.
Prof Sanders’ wife and Emeritus Professor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Cape Town, Prof Sue Fawcus, holds up her late husband’s book
Prof Pretorius described Prof Sanders as insightful and humble, a trained paediatrician, a champion of economic and social justice and a visionary public health activist.
“After our nation was freed, he was ushered to this institution by the late Professor Jakes Gerwel to establish a Public Health Programme to assist in building a new health system in South Africa. He was known to express that public healthcare is a lens for the inequity of a nation.
“Nothing is starker than witnessing unnecessary suffering and humiliation at public health facilities, because it is a marker of a failing system. This leads to the erosion of public confidence in organs of state, which means we are nursing a timebomb, and this, as Professor Brian O’Connell often warned, is a breeding ground for barbarism. We must keep David’s vision in focus, which was simply put – a world without inequity.”
He fondly recalled Sanders as being a firm supporter of the humble peanut butter and jam sandwich, which he believed packed a mean nutritional punch with many health benefits – including for one’s heart and mind.