Eminent scientist and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit (Wits VIDA), Prof Shabir Madhi, has been awarded the Science-for-Society Gold Medal by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) at its Annual Awards Ceremony held virtually on 20 October 2021.

Professor Salim Abdool Karim, former President and CEO of the South African Medical Council (SAMRC) and now Director of the organisation’s HIV-TB Pathogenesis and Treatment Research Unit, is the newly elected Vice-President: Outreach and Engagement for the Governing Board of the 

While South Africa and the rest of the world continue to make encouraging progress in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the development of a safe and effective HIV vaccine also remains critical for global health – something the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) has not lost sight of.

Hundreds of health leaders and experts meet today to recommend the international community urgently mount stronger evidence-based responses to global health emergencies.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is recommending widespread use of the RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine among children in sub-Saharan Africa and in other regions with moderate to high P. falciparum malaria transmission.