The public health community – and the rest of the world – suffered an immense loss when public health scholar David Sanders passed away on August 30, 2019 from a heart attack at the age of 74.
Up until his death, Sanders led an impactful life in public health research, mentoring, teaching, and activism. He is especially known for his contributions to many African countries’ health sectors, particularly those in South Africa, where he was born, and Zimbabwe, where he became a medical doctor. In the 1970s, Sanders practiced in the United Kingdom, specializing in public health and pediatrics, while also being actively involved in civil rights movements.
Upon returning to the newly independent Zimbabwe in 1980, he established the first rural placement for medical students at the University of Zimbabwe Medical School. He also assisted the government in initiating a rural health program that focused on household-level health promotion by community health workers.
In the early 1990s, Sanders returned to his birth country to work at what is known today as the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He then moved to Cape Town and there established the Public Health Programme at the University of the Western Cape in 1993. In the 16 years that he led the university, he developed a world-renowned long-distance learning master’s degree program in public health, which graduated students from across the continent.
Image Source: 4FR
Sanders’ work often focused on community health workers’ role as agents of change, working intersectorally to address factors of ill-health that went beyond the medical field – the political, the economic, and the social. To manifest the positive public health change he envisioned in the world, Sanders lived out his strong belief in the power of social mobilization through leadership in groups like the People’s Health Movement. Sanders also co-authored two books with the goal of bringing a new understanding to health professionals on health and health care beyond the biomedical model. He advocated for the important role of community health workers within primary health care and called attention to the importance of their scope of practice for children and others. Between 1998 and 2002, Sanders committed himself to research in the Eastern Cape to improve management of kids with severe malnutrition, ultimately calling attention to issues like transnational food companies’ role in the growing obesity and non-communicable diseases epidemic.
Image Source: David Malan
Sanders combined brilliant academic research with activism, with an impeccable ability to convey his message to both world-class academics and non-academic civil society. As evidenced by the outpouring of tributes and messages from across the world at the news of his death, Sanders ultimately influenced many worldwide in his crusade for equitable public health.
Feature Image Source: © Darren Baker / Adobe Stock.
