Top HIV scientist, Gita Ramjee dies from coronavirus

Charlotte Eykerman staff reporter & Nanor Pontigian Science and Tech editor, The Pawprint

The world-renowned South African and award winning female Scientist, Gita Ramjee has recently died due to the COVID-19. She was only 50.  Now, people have begun to make tributes to her, after she dedicated her life to finding HIV prevention solutions for women. 

South Africa currently has the largest number of people with HIV in the world. As a result many people already have compromised immune systems making them particularly susceptible to any new virus like COVID-19. 

The country’s Deputy President David Mabuza states, “The passing of Prof Ramjee comes as a huge blow to the entirety of the healthcare sector and the global fight against HIV/Aids.”

Currently, South Africa has begun their three-week lockdown, as they want to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Ramjee originally fell ill after she returned to South Africa from the UK mid-march. She eventually died in a hospital near the city of Durban on Tuesday, she had been working as the chief scientific officer of Aurum Institute. 

The head of the Aurum Institute, Prof Churchyard said, “To have an African scientist, who is internationally recognised pass – really leaves a huge void for us. As an unrelenting fighter, unrelenting in her fight against HIV, against tuberculosis and now Covid-19. The last thing she would want us to do is to give up. We won’t give up, we must keep fighting and working to find solutions.”