UKZN Academic Re-appointed to CoMMiC

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UKZN’s Family Medicine Head of Department, Dr Bernhard Gaede, has been re-appointed to serve on the Ministerial Committee on Mortality and Morbidity in Children (CoMMiC) by the National Health Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi.

Gaede said it was an honour to be requested to serve on the committee once again although the re-appointment came as no surprise. ‘There was some discussion at the end of the previous term regarding whether I was available to stand again.’

In a letter to Gaede, Motsoaledi said Gaede’s contribution to improving the health of South African Children through his ongoing involvement in the committee was highly appreciated.

Gaede said while the majority of members were paediatricians, there was an increasing recognition that district level care and primary health care had an important role to play in ensuring service delivery.

He said there was also recognition that a lot of the mortality and morbidity in children was driven by social determinants of health.

The Committee is instrumental in tracking the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and now the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

‘I think my background in rural health, health systems work and advocacy contributed to being identified to serve on the committee,’ he said.

CoMMiC reviews information regarding morbidity and mortality in children in South Africa and has an important role in clinical governance and oversight.

As part of the oversight role, the committee also has an advocacy role of raising critical issues pertaining to factors that influence child health. It reviews policies and guidelines and makes proposals for critical areas that require attention. 

The committee is made up of very committed and dynamic people in the field of child health: ‘It is exciting to see the link between research, service provision and impact of the policies and be part of the discussions that shape this kind of agenda,’ said Gaede.

Gaede trained as a family physician and holds a PhD in Family Medicine. He worked for more than a decade in rural settings of South Africa with a wide scope of clinical and organisational experience including HIV medicine, primary health care and rural district level services.

Nombuso Dlamini