David Sanders MBChB, MRCP, DCH, DTPH, DSc(Honoris Causa)
Expertise Keywords
Primary Health Care, child health and nutrition, health human resources
Summary biography
David Sanders, Professor and founding Director of the School of Public Health at the University of the Western Cape, (U.W.C.), South Africa, is a specialist paediatrician qualified in Public Health. He has been an academic in the medical schools of the Universities of Zimbabwe and Natal. He has 30 years experience of health policy and program development in Zimbabwe and South Africa, having advised governments, NGOs and UN agencies in primary health care, child health and nutrition, and health human resources. He has published extensively in these fields as well as on structural adjustment and development aid, having authored three books, over 40 chapters and monographs and 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals.
Since becoming Director of the (now) School of Public Health at UWC, this unit has expanded from two staff to one of over 50 staff, approximately 250 Masters students from about 20 African countries and 30 PhD students, an annual research income of approximately R20m, and a recently completed new building, funded by a philanthropic foundation.
He is internationally recognized as an advocate for child health, primary health care and health equity in Africa, and is frequently a plenary speaker at national and international meetings, having made almost 300 invited presentations eg WHO-convened 20th anniversary of Alma Ata Conference 1998, Congress of World Federation of Public Health Associations 2009, Congress of Federation of European Societies of Tropical Medicine and International Health 2009, European Commission Conference on Global Health 2010.
Qualifications
Medical degree M.B.Ch.B. (Birm) 1969
Diploma in Child Health D.C.H.(R.C.S. Eng.) 1972
Membership of the Royal College of Physicians M.R.C.P.(UK) 1974
Diploma in Tropical Public Health D.T.P.H.(London) 1976 (with credit).
Certificate of completion of Combined course in Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (L.S.H.T.M.), 1988
Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) (UCT) 2012
Past and current employment
1. Zimbabwe Medical Adviser to OXFAM (U.K.) (1980-1988) Responsible for establishing and coordinating OXFAM’s health work in Zimbabwe
2. National Chairperson Children's Supplementary Feeding Programme (November 1980 December 1981). Planned C.S.F.P. and coordinated committee of national and international voluntary agencies and government ministries.
.3. Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor Depts of Paediatrics and child Health, and Community Medicine, Medical School, University of Zimbabwe
4. Professor, School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa (2009-present)
5. Professor and Director, School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa. (April 1993- 2009)
6. Deputy Dean, Faculty of Community and Health Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa. (2000-2003)
7. April to June 2011: Consultant to UNICEF Regional Office for West and Central Africa to undertake 'Review of country experiences and compilation of good practices in implementing integrated community-based maternal, neonatal and child health and nutrition interventions, and to facilitate Regional Workshop
8. September 2011 to present: Save the Children, UK:Regional Health & HIV Advisor, East & Southern Africa (part-time).
Selected Honours
Recipient of the Nutrition Society of South Africa award in 2002
Heath Clark visiting lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine 2004/5
Honorary Professor at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine 2005-7
Adjunct Professor at the Centre for International Health, University of Bergen 2005-2009
Member of Steering Committee of the United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition 2002 – 2006.
Member of Global Steering Council of the Peoples Health Movement
Managing editor of Global Health Watch 2.
Member of committees advising Provincial and National Ministers of Health in South Africa, 1994/6 and 2010
Awarded honorary doctorate by UCT Medical Faculty, 2012
Selected Consultancies and Competitive Research Grants ` (Principal or Co-Principal Applicant)
Assessing the impact of HIV/AIDS on health services at primary care level, focusing on human resource capacity, IDRC, CAD349,520.00
Human Capacity Development to address HIV & AIDS in South Africa – CDC, 2008-2012 USD 4 256 815
Experience of African countries with global health initiatives (with Institute Tropical Medicine, Antwerp) European Commission € 523,095
Promoting infant health and nutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa: Safety and efficacy of exclusive breastfeeding promotion in the era of HIV (with University of Bergen) European Commission€296,400.00
Global Health Research Initiative, Canada (with University of Ottawa) Revitalising Health for All: Learning from Comprehensive Primary Health Care Experience CAD 1 599 600
Accessing Medicines in Africa and South Asia, (with University of Edinburgh) May 2010-April 2013, European Commission €420,939.00
Principal Investigator and Senior Medical Consultant to UNICEF and National Department of Health Nutrition Directorate, South Africa for project: Capacity Development of Medical Doctors and Senior Managers in South Africa for the Management of Severe Acute Malnutrition, 2009/10
Consultant to World Vision International to draft briefing paper : ‘The missing link: saving children’s lives through family and community care’, for United Nations General Assembly Summit on Progress towards Millennium Development Goals, New York, September 2010
Publications/Presentations
Life-time summary (count) according to the following categories: Books/Monographs authored and co-authored (8), Chapters in books (38), Papers in refereed journals (101), Technical reports/refereed conference proceedings/training manuals (43), Scientific letters (9), Invited presentations/keynote addresses/public lectures (268)
Selected Relevant Publications
BOOKS/MONOGRAPHS
1. Sanders D. with R. Carver, The Struggle for Health: Medicine and the Politics of Underdevelopment, Macmillan, Basingstoke and London, 1985, 232 pages. Reprinted 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992.
2. Werner D. and D. Sanders with J. Weston, S. Babb and B. Rodriguez, Questioning the Solution: the Politics of Primary Health Care and Child Survival, HealthWrights, Palo Alto, 1997, 206 pages
3.. Chopra M and D Sanders, Child Health and Poverty, Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre (CHIP) Report no. 10, Save the Children, U.K., 2004, 61 pages
CHAPTERS/MONOGRAPHS
Mason JB, Sanders D, Musgrove P, Soekirman, Galloway R. April 2006 “Community Health and Nutrition Programs”, (Chapter 56 in: Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries, Second Edition), pp. 1053-1074, Published by Oxford University Press, World Bank, ISBN: 0-8213-6179-1 SKU: 16179, Eds. DT Jamison, JG Breman, AR Measham et al.
Sanders D and Chopra M. “Poverty, Social Inequity, and Child Health” (Chapter 4 in: Child Health for All, 4th Edition) pp. 22-30, in M Kibel, H Saloojee, T Westwood, eds. ISBN: 978 0 19 576495 6, (Oxford University Press Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd., 2007)
Haffejee F, Chopra M, Sanders D. (2007). The Problem of Handwashing and Paying for Water in South Africa, Municipal Services Project, Occasional Papers Series Number 13, Series Editors: McDonald DA, Ruiters G
Lehmann U and Sanders D. (2007).Community Health Workers - what do we know about them? The state of the evidence on programmes, activities, costs and impact on health outcomes of using community health workers. Evidence and Information for Policy, Department of Human Resources for Health. WHO: Geneva
Sanders D, Reynolds L, Eley B, Kroon M, Zar H, Davies M, Westwood T, Nongena P, van Heerden T (2007). Decreasing the Burden of Childhood Disease. Western Cape Burden of Disease Reduction Project, Volume 7 of 7, Final Report 2007, Provincial Government Western Cape.
Swart R, Sanders D, McLachlan M. “Nutrition: A Primary Health Care Perspective”, in South African Health Review, 2008, Chapter 9, pages 129-147, Published by the Health Systems Trust, Nov. 2008
Sanders D, Schaay N, Mohamed S. “Primary Health Care”. In: Kris Heggenhougen and Stella Quah, eds. International Encyclopedia of Public Health, Vol. 5, San Diego: Academic Press; 2008, pages 305-316
Sanders D, Igumbor E, Lehmann U, Meeus W, Dovlo D. 2009, “Public Health in Africa”. (Chapter in: Beaglehole R, Bonita R. Eds. Global Public Health: A New Era, Second Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 161-183, 2009.)
REFEREED JOURNAL ARTICLES
Haines A, Sanders D. Building Capacity to attain the Millennium Development Goals. Trans. Roy. Soc Trop Med. and Hygiene 2005, 99;721-6
Sanders DM, CH Todd, M Chopra, Confronting Africa's health crisis: more of the same will not be enough, BMJ, 2005, 331 (7519) 755 -758
Sanders D, Chopra M. “Key Challenges to Achieving Health in an Inequitable Society: the Case of South Africa”, American Journal of Public Health, January 2006, Vol. 96, No. 1
Sanders D, Haines A. “Implementation Research is Needed to Achieve International Health Goals”, PLoS Medicine, June 2006, Volume 3, Issue 6:e186. DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.0030186
Haines, A., D. Sanders, U. Lehmann, A. K. Rowe, J. Lawn, S. Jan, D. G. Walker, and Z. Bhutta. “Achieving child survival goals: potential contribution of community health workers”, Lancet, 2007, Vol. 369, pp 2121-2131
Tomlinson M, Chopra M, Sanders D, Bradshaw D, Hendricks M, Greenfield D, Black RE, Arifeen SEI, Rudan I. “Setting Priorities in Child Health Research Investments for South Africa”, PLoS Medicine, www.plosmedicine.org, August 2007, Volume 4, Issue 8:e259, pp. 1239-1248
Karaolis N, Jackson D, Ashworth A, Sanders D, Sogaula N, McCoy D, Chopra M, Schofield. “WHO guidelines for severe malnutrition: are they feasible in rural African hospitals?”, Arch Dis Child 2007;92-198-204. doi: 10.1136/adc.2005.087346
Thandi Puoane, Katie Cuming, David Sanders, and Ann Ashworth. “Why do some hospitals achieve better care of severely malnourished children than others? Five-year follow-up of rural hospitals in Eastern Cape, South Africa”, Health Policy and Planning Advance Access published on September 16, 2008, Health Policy Plan. 2008 23: 428-437; doi:10.1093/heapol/czn036
Lehmann U, Van Damme W, Barten F, Sanders D, “Task shifting: the answer to the Human Resources crisis in Africa?”, Human Resources for Health 2009, 7:49 doi:10.1186/1478-4491-7-49, June 2009
Coovadia H, Jewkes R, Barron P, Sanders D, McIntyre D. August 2009. “The health and health system of South Africa: historical roots of current public health challenges”, The Lancet, Health in South Africa Series, 1: pp 11-28.
Chopra M, Lawn JE, Sanders D, Barron P, Abdool Karim SS, Bradshaw D, Jewkes R, Abdool Karim Q, Flisher AJ, Mayosi BM, Tollman SM, Churchyard GJ, Coovadia H. , August 2009. “Achieving the health Millennium Development Goals for South Africa: challenges and priorities”, The Lancet, Health in South Africa Series, 6 pp 80-88.
Todd C, Ray S, Madzimbamuto F, Sanders D. “What is the way forward for health in Zimbabwe”, The Lancet, Published online Oct. 13, 2009, DOI:10:1016/S0140-6736(09)61498-7
David Sanders, Fran E Baum, Alexis Benos, David Legge, “Revitalising primary health care requires an equitable global economic system - now more than ever”, J Epidemiol Community Health doi:10.1136/jech.2009.095125 – December 2009
Fadnes LT, Jackson D, Engebretsen IM, Zembe W, Sanders D, Sommerfelt H, Tylleskär T; PROMISE-EBF Study Group. “Vaccination coverage and timeliness in three South African areas: a prospective study”. BMC Public Health. 2011 May 27;11:404.
Gupta N, Maliqi B, França A, Nyonator F, Pate MA, Sanders D, Belhadj H, Daelmans B.
“Human resources for maternal, newborn and child health: from measurement and planning to performance for improved health outcomes”, Human Resources for Health 2011 Jun 24, 9(1):16, http://www.human-resources-health.com/content/9/1/16
Brown A, Cometto G, Cumbi A, de Pinho H, Kamwendo F, Lehmann U, McCourt W, McPake B, Pariyo G, Sanders D (2011). “Mid-level health providers: a promising resource”. HRH Exchange of the Global Health Workforce Alliance. Rev Peru Med Exp Salud Publica. 2011 Jun; 28(2):308-15. English, Spanish.
Tylleskär T, Jackson D, Meda N, Engebretsen IM, Chopra M, Diallo AH, Doherty T, Ekström EC, Fadnes LT, Goga A, Kankasa C, Klungsøyr JI, Lombard C, Nankabirwa V, Nankunda JK, Van de Perre P, Sanders D, Shanmugam R, Sommerfelt H, Wamani H, Tumwine JK; PROMISE-EBF Study Group. “Exclusive breastfeeding promotion by peer counsellors in sub-Saharan Africa (PROMISE-EBF): a cluster-randomised trial”. Lancet. 2011 Jul 30;378(9789):420-7.
Tomlinson M, Doherty T, Jackson D, Lawn JE, Ijumba P, Colvin M, Nkonki L, Daviaud E, Goga A, Sanders D, Lombard C, Persson LÅ, Ndaba T, Snetro G, Chopra M. (2011)
“An effectiveness study of an integrated, community-based package for maternal, newborn, child and HIV care in South Africa: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial”. Trials. 2011 Nov 1;12:236.
Javanparast S, Baum F, Labonte R, Sanders D. (2011), “Community health workers' perspectives on their contribution to rural health and well-being in Iran”. Am J Public Health. 2011 Dec; 101(12):2287-92. Epub 2011 Oct 20.Sundewall J, Swanson RC, Betigeri A, Sanders D, Collins TE, Shakarishvili G, Brugha R. “Health-systems strengthening: current and future activities”. Lancet. 2011 Apr 9;377(9773):1222-3.
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