Exceptional contributions to public health wins global honour for Prof Helen Rees
Congratulations to alumna, Fellow and public health pioneer
Professor Helen Rees, one of South Africa’s most well-known women scientists, studied Medical Sciences at Murray Edwards from 1971 and became an Honorary Fellow in 2015. A visionary in vaccines, HIV, and adolescent health, Helen’s work has shaped policy and advanced equity across the WHO African Region and beyond. Helen received the prestigious Dr Lee Jong-wook Memorial Prize for Public Health from the World Health Organization, one of the highest global honours in the field of public health. It recognises her ‘exceptional contributions’ to global health, particularly in vaccine research, outbreak response, and health equity.
Helen said:
“The Dr Lee Jong-wook Public Health award is wonderful recognition of my life’s work and I am hugely honoured. The “Inverse Care Law” shows us that those most in need have the least invested in their health, and the discipline of public health seeks to address this in a myriad of ways. The importance of combining health provision with human rights and equitable access, underpins the philosophy of this global award.”
At the ceremony Helen highlighted an urgent need for restructuring of global health that encompasses global governance, financing, health services and innovative technology. The sudden withdrawal of US funds from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, where she has been based for three decades has already resulted in huge job losses and services immediately suspended.
She warned that:
“Unless addressed through new investments and innovation, years of progress and many achievements in global health will be reversed.”
In addition to the WHO accolade, Helen was also recently elected as a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), joining a distinguished network of scholars committed to advancing science and innovation across the African continent.