Hoosen Mahomed "Jerry" Coovadia (2 August 1940 – 4 October 2023) was a South African medical doctor, academic, and former

anti-apartheid activist The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid, apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-White population who were persecuted by ...

. He was Victor Daitz Professor at the

University of KwaZulu-Natal The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is a university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westville. ...

. He was awarded the 2013

AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility The AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility is given by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and honours scientists and engineers whose exemplary actions, often taken at significant personal cost, have served to fos ...

. He also received the 1999 Star of South Africa Award from President

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

and the 2000 Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights.

Biography

Hoosen Mahomed Coovadia was born in Durban,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, on 2 August 1940. His grandparents had emigrated from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to South Africa in the 1880s. Coovadia attended St. Anthony’s, a

Catholic school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

, and later Sastri College, a high school. Coovadia briefly attended Medical School at the University of Natal, which at that time was

racially A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

stratified, before moving to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, India for medical training. He was accepted at the

Grant Medical College The Grant Government Medical College, Mumbai, is a public medical college, affiliated to the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences. Founded in 1845, it is one of the oldest institutions teaching medicine in South Asia. Its clinical affil ...

at the

University of Bombay The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

. After graduating, he returned to Durban to work at the King Edward VIII Hospital. He worked in

pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...

at the University of Natal and the

Colleges of Medicine of South Africa The Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA) is the custodian of the quality of medical care in South Africa. It is unique in the world in that its 29 constituent Colleges represent all the disciplines of medicine and dentistry. The only present ...

and then went to the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

, earning his M.Sc. in

Immunology Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see there ...

in 1974. He then rejoined the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Natal, receiving an M.D. in 1978. He was appointed

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...

at the University of Natal in 1982 and Ad Hominem Professor in 1986. From 1990 to 2000, he served as professor and head of paediatrics and

child health Pediatric nursing is part of the nursing profession, specifically revolving around the care of neonates and children up to adolescence. The word, ''pediatrics'', comes from the Greek words 'paedia' (child) and 'iatrike' (physician). 'Paediatrics' i ...

at the University of Natal. He has since served as the Victor Daitz Chair in HIV/AIDS Research, Director of Biomedical Science at the Centre for

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

Networking (HIVAN), and the scientific director of the Doris Duke Medical Research Institute at the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine at the University of KwaZulu Natal. Coovadia was involved in the leadership of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the 1970s. He became chairman of the Commission on Maternal and Child Health, created by the Mandela government. He served on the executive of the National Medical and Dental Association (NAMDA), formed in 1982. In the 1980s, Coovadia focused on issues of

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

and

childhood diseases The term childhood disease refers to disease that is contracted or becomes symptomatic before the age of 18 or 21 years old. Many of these diseases can also be contracted by adults. Some childhood diseases include: Diseases from three years to ...

, but then expanded his focus to include AIDS, particularly mother-to-child transmission. He was a vocal critic of the AIDS policies of Thabo Mbeki's government and campaigned actively for the use of antiretroviral therapy. In 2000, he served as co-chair of the

International AIDS Conference The International AIDS Society (IAS) is the world's largest association of HIV/AIDS professionals, with 11,600 members from over 170 countries , including clinicians, people living with HIV, service providers, policy makers and others. It aims to r ...

in Durban. Coovadia died on 4 October 2023 at his home in Durban after a period of declining health.

Works

*''Host Allergic Response Variation in Children with Measles Infection'', University of Natal, Durban, 1977 *

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coovadia, Hoosen Living people 1940 births South African Muslims South African paediatricians Academic staff of the University of KwaZulu-Natal University of Mumbai alumni Alumni of the University of Birmingham Academic staff of the University of Natal University of Natal alumni South African people of Indian descent South African medical researchers People from eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality Segregation Apartheid in South Africa Anti-apartheid activists Members of the National Academy of Medicine Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences