COVID-19 Conversations with DR. ANBAN PILLAY

This week we speak to Dr Anban Pillay the Deputy Director-General of South Africa’s National Department of Health. Hailing from Kwa-Zulu Natal province, a former health intern, Dr Pillay, was spurred into a life of public service when he witnessed the substandard health care offered to communities in Chatsworth, Durban during apartheid. Pillay studied pharmacy at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and obtained his medical degree at the same institution. He later completed a PhD in Health Economics in Australia. An early champion of National Health Insurance he works to ensure that staffing, equipment and access to medication for the public sector remain on the agenda, as does the urgency to standardise health care across provinces. Dr Pillay serves on the Ministerial Advisory Council on COVID-19.