South Africa
SA's top #coronavirus adviser steps down─── 10:01 Thu, 25 Mar 2021
Health minister Zweli Mkhize’s top coronavirus adviser, Salim Abdool Karim, has stepped down, saying he needs to devote his attention to his HIV research and other academic commitments.
Karim is an internationally respected scientist who heads the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in SA at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He also holds positions at the universities of Columbia, Cornell and Harvard.
The minister appointed Karim as chair of his ministerial advisory committee on Covid-19 on March 23, and then as co-chair of a revised ministerial advisory committee (MAC) constituted in September.
Confirming his departure from the MAC, Karim said the minister had accepted his request to step down, and he would now turn his attention to his research on broadly neutralising antibodies for HIV prevention.
Mkhize’s spokesperson, Lwazi Manzi, was not immediately available for comment.
Business Day/kahnt@businesslive.co.za
