95 quotes found
"All individuals are imperfect and forgetful and find it difficult to transcend immediate self-interest. Historically therefore it has been deemed essential to create constitutional bodies that uphold and insist on adherence to certain ethical standards...If all these medical ethical bodies are to gain the respect of the public they should remain alert to intervene whenever these standards are threatened."
"I think submission to authority and absolving oneself from blame by saying that one has to obey orders are widespread...I think all medical students should be taught about the research on submissiveness being a key etiological factor in the perpetuation of atrocities. They should be fully familiar with Milgram's work and reflect on Hannah Arendt's concept of the 'banality of evil'."
"I don't want to give the impression that because of gender, I was oppressed. I was, but then I lent myself to it. I regret it, as it was a disservice to women. But I was too unaware for too long."
"Creating a culture of ambitious and strong-willed women requires solidarity among women, and especially the inclusion of men. From my childhood experiences I recognise that our existence is interdependent."
"African consumers are now recognising their own designers are as valuable any of the brands they buy globally,""
"as a young girl I always enjoyed the feel and look of clothing. Growing up in Soweto, you socialised at weddings and church – those were times when you could shine and put on your best outfit and I enjoyed that. I couldn’t sew to save my life at school, but when playing with dolls with my siblings and cousins, I had the fashion sense, in terms of knowing what looked good on the dolls. And the passion grew from there. So going into the fashion industry was an easy transition for me, because I felt I could make a difference by investing in the growth of industries that define who we are as a nation. The fashion and arts industry is important in that regard, as well as the way it employs thousands of people, such as fabric makers, seamstresses and beaders”."
"I never agonised about not practising medicine. I believe you need to find things that you enjoy doing and explore them to the fullest, but don't get stuck with them. I don't believe in this myopic view of our careers, where you have to study something and then you have to work in that career for the next 50 years. It's like buying an expensive hammer and for the rest of your life you've got to be hammering in nails. I really don't believe that. I think medicine, in many ways, prepared me for many other things that I could do. Passion, hard work, honesty and respect for others is something I carry with me wherever I go. I hope that in 10 years' time I will go into something else. I believe in reinventing myself as a human being. There are people who want to stay in a career and explore it to the maximum, but I like change."
"Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us."
"Change, and advocacy, by men and women begins within our immediate household and workplace environments. Patriarchy creates emotional scars that can only be healed through constructive dialogue."
"What is needed is political will—men and women who are sensitive to and committed to promoting gender equality for the overall benefit of society.""
"Empowering women must include men"
"It's an important cultural moment, recognition of black excellence and talent from Africa"
"I believe that strategic investment in women and girls will ensure we address the most pressing issues that face women today. Addressing women’s issues is part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and Maverick’s impact will extend toward closing gender parity gaps"
"We remember and honour all those who have worked and suffered for the realisation of these rights and reaffirm our individual and collective commitment to work for a world where everyone is truly free"
"These technologies hold immense potential, not least for better inclusion, but they can also be disruptive, and could potentially put jobs at risk"
"The longer we wait, the greater the future costs are likely to be. On the other hand, there are opportunities in moving quickly now, and universities can play a catalytic research role in this area"
"Interacting with these themes, shaping them and being shaped by them, I feel there is a growing global sense that We need to put values and ethics back into how we think about our economic system, and how we understand the institutions that form part of them"
"is the potential synergies between these trends, the way they can positively reinforce one another, that really excites me, and makes me hopeful that we can recover lost ground and accelerate towards achieving the ever-elusive Sustainable Development Goals, and the overarching goal of a better and more sustainable future for all"
"As chancellor I would like to see the University of Cape Town grow even further as an inclusive centre of excellence, embedded in the society around us, nurturing compassionate citizens and helping to prepare Africa take its rightful place in a technology-oriented world"
"I want to pose this as the challenge for all of us, and for this university: to bring to all the challenges we face, and will face, the same sense of compassionate urgency that we saw during the fire, and that we have seen in those helping the poor and vulnerable during the [COVID-19] pandemic"
"In short, to make Johannesburg “a city of golden opportunities: a vibrant, safe and resilient city, where the local government provides a quality life for every resident."
"They all come in search of golden opportunities synonymous with the city’s promise of gold. However, following years of neglect, mistreatment and abuse, our city now lies in ruins."
"Politics sometimes plays strange tricks on you. “We were surprised, just like everyone else."
"“It would be a profound mistake to assume that the council and its municipal administration can fix the city on its own. Partnership is often missing internally. Departments and entities must cooperate. Residents must receive real responses and not be… shoved from pillar to post. The entire municipality must work as a team."
"It’s a challenge because South Africa is very diverse, even the socio-economic status of the people in Johannesburg. So you have the billionaire on the one hand, who is looking forward to this first world city, and then you have someone in an informal settlement that says, ‘Just give me a toilet’. You have to be able to meet the needs of both constituencies."
"As a doctor, I was trained to bring things to life that are almost dead. I think a lot of the skills in medicine are transferable. The city is like a patient, it is sick and needs to be brought back to life, so you use the same approach as in medicine, the history, diagnosis, and come up with a treatment plan."
"I’m very grateful to God, I feel it’s an honor. It could have been any other woman, you know, the fact that God chose for me to be that woman. I really, don’t take it lightly. I’m very appreciative of holding that title. But I also realize the responsibility that comes with the title because it says, you are a front runner, you’ve opened the door for other women to come after you."
"A helping hand can surely make a significant difference; a helping hand touches and can change lives."
"A school is to a child what a minerals refinery is to precious gems."
"Women should not have to make a choice between work and the wellbeing of their children."
"It is a new discipline in medicine which focuses on access to surgery and improving quality of care and outcomes. I like to describe it as the interface between surgical services and surgical systems."
"My research is working on improving perinatal outcomes and stillbirth auditing across Africa. In many countries, we don’t know what the real numbers are at the end of the day, so we have to start counting."
"More importantly though, the role of women in their societies can tell us a lot. Communities that protect their women seem to have better health outcomes."
"t's always the elephant in the room. When you walk into a room, and you don't see anyone that looks like you, sometimes you don't know if you are welcome or not. Luckily, i am comfortable with situations where I am minority."
"But I am very clear about what my expertise is. It is also a sense of pressure and responsibility because I often feel that if a wrong decision is made, I am not speaking just for me, but for many."
"I try not to have a victim mentality … there’s racism, there’s the question of women, etc. I always say to myself, “Okay, what can I do to change the status quo?” It’s about making things better."
"Try to work with like-minded people. You will knock on many doors, but don’t give up, believe in yourself and believe in what you are doing."
"I think deep down I’m an eternal optimist. So, those things to me said, “I have a social and political responsibility to create more like me, or not even like me, even better than me.” I realised that when I finished my dermatology [degree] and I was the only African there. But I must say, in the department there were consultants who were very sensitive to my cause and very supportive. So I leaned towards those individuals and they kept encouraging me. I try not to have a victim mentality … there’s racism, there’s the question of women, etc. I always say to myself, “Okay, what can I do to change the status quo?” It’s about making things better."
"It is a balancing act. I think one has to set one’s own standards. Don’t compete with anyone because everyone’s situation is unique. I always say to women colleagues, I have one child and that was intentional, because that was the only way I could balance raising my child with having my career. Then again, you find people who have four or five children. You have to carve your own path. With mundane tasks, I delegate at home. For example, I’ve made sure that my helper is amazing. If I get a salary increase, hers also increases, because she’s my home manager. The third point is have a supporting husband, a supporting family. So, in a nutshell, it’s important to understand your own situation and not compete with others; instead, compete with yourself, be the best version of yourself. And you must love what you are doing. Talking about she balance academics with leadership."
"One of my role models was my brother, Mluleki Dlova. He died at a young age, and it was at his funeral that I learned how much he used to do at Gillette, as CEO of a department. I learned how much he was doing to help the staff and create bursaries for students because he was in a position of power. That was also something that planted a seed."
"Its never too early to give children the guidance and to create or make your relationship with them a safer space."
"When your child has questions or in some cases can articulate their sexuality/gender experiences, handle them with respect and affirmations."
"It all matters, what you read, what you watch and listen to. Take care of your health. Nothing in life is handed to you, embrace hard work. In everything you do, look out for balance; not perfection."
"She achieved a lot. She was a very determined individual whose priorities were her patients and the children."
"“I would not have succeeded in my career had it not been for my husband,”says a very appreciative Adhikari."
"I’ve always seen it as being absolutely essential to combine research with activism and I believe that really solid activism can be bolstered by having a research basis."
"I’ve held a belief that I will incrementally be able to try and contribute towards making the world a better place for women."
"Conventional practice was that TB was difficult to confirm in children."
"There was a misconception that asthma is rare in African children."
"The study showed that it's common, with prevalence rates that are often higher than global rates."
"The study will hopefully provide valuable information to identify new interventions for improving child health."
"Translational research is the bridge between clinical and basic science research."
"The implementation of findings into practice and public health including policy and guidelines."
"Despite children being a third of the population, child health is relatively underfunded and underresourced."
"Child health has been worsening over the past 20 years in South Africa."
"More funding and capacity development are needed to strengthen child health programmes."
"My hope is that it helps shine a spotlight on this relatively under resourced area of research."
"Children are so seldom prioritised on the health agenda."
"There’s a lack of knowledge about the burden of childhood illnesses even though children make up 37 percent of our population."
"Much childhood death and illness is preventable."
"Improving access to affordable, effective interventions globally is vital."
"There’s so much respiratory disease and there’s so much to be done."
"I was always very interested in the potential public health impact."
"I wanted to be in an area in which you could turn things around."
"In pulmonology, there’s a lot of immediate change oxygen, antibiotics, those sorts of interventions, plus interventions on a longer timeframe."
"It’s a key issue to get these products to low and middle income countries (LMICs)."
"This is where children are dying from RSV."
"Paediatrics is about creating better futures."
"The big question in the project is, what makes for a healthy child?"
"We enrolled pregnant women, moms in these peri urban poor areas."
"Following them through pregnancy, through childbirth, and now we are following the children who are turning 11 years old."
"We wanted to look very broadly to understand why some children get ill."
"Why some children are healthy children from the same communities."
"We looked at growth, at neurodevelopment, and now as the children are getting older, we are starting to look at non-communicable diseases like cardiometabolic disease and asthma."
"The mother’s health, both physical and psychological, factors like depression and anxiety."
"We looked at the home environment, we visited the homes before the children were born, and after."
"We looked at child and maternal nutrition, at allergies."
"We even looked at things like parenting style."
"Some of their findings were predictable."
"Mothers who smoke in pregnancy have children who are smaller, children who have more lung disease, children who are less healthy."
"Now this is very important because of the new vaccines, which we really need to access for our children."
"Children suffering from diseases of poverty."
"When Mandela was freed, there was so much euphoria and so much hope for the future."
"We felt that this is where we could make a contribution."
"God is the cornerstone of everything for me. Sometimes patients ask us to pray with them and we’re happy if we can help them feel the comfort and power they need, no matter what religion they are."
"I always seek a human connection. Without it, being a doctor would lose much of its sense of purpose."
"As we heal others we heal ourselves, life is pointless if we don’t contribute."
"We went into it with our eyes open. We were not afraid, and we were prepared to face jail and brutality. We knew that our struggle was just."
"When we joined the struggle, we never thought of ourselves as heroes. We only thought that it was our duty."
"Women have always been in the struggle, whether in the background or in the front. Without women, the movement would never have survived."
"The first thing I did was to ensure structural change because it is no longer good enough as leaders to bring women into spaces where they must suffer in order to survive. It is no longer just about a seat at the table where one is constantly being minimized and invisibilised. It is about having, owning that seat at the table and thriving."
"Our core values have dramatically changed to kindness and compassion. In the past these values were not even remotely possible but because of women being part of the leadership team, these values are now a cornerstone."
"If I look at my own country South Africa, we inherited a health system that was really inequitable and in a sense, although we are doing excellent work in some sectors, we are grappling with the injustices of the past."
"As part of the de-colonisation project, we need to deliver health care to where people are, such that they don’t have to travel long distances to access health care."
"Leaders of the future will be dealing with challenges that are ‘wicked’ and very complex. I would say the top 3 skills are as follows: 1. Innovative agility … 2. Compassionate acumen – leading with heart and love. My belief is that in order to be a great leader you have to create peaceful and loving environments where people can fully live out their dreams. 3. Reflective quotient … a leader has to recognise their full humanity while being cognisant of the past and that which is required of them in future."