Gita Ramjee, a South African scientist renowned for her work to expand women's access to HIV treatment and prevention, died Tuesday from complications related to COVID-19. Ramjee was the chief scientific officer of the Aurum Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Johannesburg that focuses on HIV and tuberculosis research.

"Gita was a vibrant person, a real fighter," the Aurum Institute's CEO, Gavin Churchyard, tells the BBC, "That will be my lasting memory of her—how she fought with everything to advance access to healthcare for women in disadvantaged communities."

"The passing of Professor Ramjee comes as a huge blow to the entirety of the healthcare sector and the global fight against HIV/Aids," the country's Deputy President David Mabuza said in a statement.

"In her, we have indeed lost a champion in the fight against the HIV epidemic, ironically at the hands of this global pandemic. In her honour, we should heed the call to flatten the curve by strengthening our responses to this global pandemic as well as continue the fight to achieve zero new HIV infections."

She fell ill after returning to South Africa in mid-March from the UK, where she had been presenting at a symposium at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

Ramjee grew up in Uganda. She and her family moved to India after Idi Amin came to power in the 1970s.  In 1980, she obtained a degree in chemistry and physiology from the University of Sunderland in northeast England, and then relocated again, this time to South Africa with her husband in 1981.

She held an honorary professorship at the LSHTM, as well as at the University of Washington and the University of Cape Town.

Gita Ramjee was 64.

Source: The Scientist, Independent online.