Virchow Prize 2025 for UKZN Global Health Leader

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Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) has been awarded the prestigious Virchow Prize 2025. 

The prize recognises Abdool Karim’s pioneering, lifelong leadership in advancing maternal, newborn and child health equity through community-centred, evidence-based research, in particular her support for some of the world’s most vulnerable people. 

She shares the honour with Professor Zulfiqar Bhutta, a paediatrician and public health scientist based at Aga Khan University in Pakistan and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. 

The Virchow Prize 2025 laureates have shaped health policies and practice by closing critical gaps in care for vulnerable populations. Their leadership has ensured that life-saving services reach those in low-resource and crisis-affected settings, where health systems are often weakest and disparities most acute. 

Abdool Karim is internationally recognised for her leadership in HIV prevention among girls and young women, with far-reaching implications for maternal and adolescent health. Her ground-breaking CAPRISA 004 trial provided the first proof of concept that antiretroviral drugs could prevent HIV infection in women, a finding that has had a lasting impact on global HIV prevention efforts. She has also played a key role in building scientific capacity across Africa, mentoring a generation of women scientists. 

Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Health Sciences, Professor Busisiwe Ncama, congratulated Abdool Karim: “This recognition is not only a testament to your extraordinary scientific contributions but also to your unwavering commitment to equity and social justice in global health. Your pioneering work, particularly in advancing the health and rights of women and young people in underserved communities, has profoundly shaped the global health landscape and brought critical attention to those historically excluded from mainstream health systems and scientific discourse.” 

President of the Virchow Foundation Professor Christopher Markschies said: “This year’s laureates, epitomise the Virchow tradition of combining scientific rigour with deep social consciousness. Their work continues to be empirically grounded, equity-driven and politically transformative, setting a benchmark for all of us striving to build inclusive and just health systems.” 

Commented Ncama: “On behalf of countless colleagues inspired by your leadership and myself, I salute your vision, your resilience, and your dedication. May this well-deserved honour continue to amplify your impact and light the path for the next generation of global health leaders.” 

For more information, visit: www.virchowprize.org

Words: MaryAnn Francis

Image: Supplied