Internal Medicine

The Department of Infectious Diseases came into being in the early 1990’s under the leadership of Professor Vinod Gathiram. The impetus for the creation of the department was the need for academic leadership to address the emerging HIV/AIDS epidemic. Professor Vinod Gathiram’s untimely death was a major blow to the development of the specialty at University of KwaZulu Natal. The then head of the Department of Medicine, Professor Umesh Lalloo, managed the Department of Infectious Diseases until the post of Chief Specialist was filled in 2004. Currently, the unit consists of 2 full-time Consultants, one honorary lecturer, one medical officer and a Registrar in rotation from the General Medicine pool. All clinical services are currently undertaken at King Edward VIII Hospital.

The Department of Infectious Diseases is committed to providing leadership and excellence in clinical care of the indigent while providing a high standard of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and training. In addition, the department is actively working at developing a locally relevant and internationally recognized research agenda. To meet the above mandate in the face of limited capacity, the Department has fostered close links and collaborations with institutes of academic excellence both locally and internationally. The ID Department has close ties with the Department of Infectious Diseases at Harvard University and John Hopkins University, Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Cincinnati in the US, the HIV Unit at Kings College London in the UK and more recently an Australian research group based in Perth and Melbourne.