President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulates Prof Salim Abdool Karim on John Maddox Prize

President Cyril Ramaphosa offers his warmest congratulations to epidemiologist and Chair of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Prof Salim Abdool Karim on being awarded the 2020 John Maddox Prize. 

The President extends congratulations as well to Prof Quarraisha Abdool Karim – the globally acclaimed HIV and AIDS researcher and epidemiologist who is also the spouse of Prof Salim Karim - on their shared receipt of the Chilean government’s 500 Years of the Strait of Magellan Award.

With this award, Chile honours innovators who, through their research or actions, have contributed to providing solutions to global needs.

The John Maddox Prize awarded to Prof Salim Abdool Karim is a joint initiative of the charity Sense about Science and the leading international scientific journal Nature.

The Prize has been awarded annually since 2012 to researchers who have shown great courage and integrity in standing up for science and scientific reasoning against fierce opposition and hostility.

The 2020 Prize has been jointly awarded to Prof Karim, who is the Director of the Centre for AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) and Dr Anthony Fauci, Director of the United States’ National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), for standing up for science during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Prize recognises the two scientists’ work as prominent government advisors on health during the Covid-19 pandemic, and their exceptional communication of the science behind Covid-19 to the public and policymakers.

In recent decades both scientists have also provided leadership in their respective countries’ response to HIV and AIDS.

President Ramaphosa said: “It is an honour to congratulate Prof Karim on an outstanding achievement and international recognition of his contribution to science and to our national response to COVID-19.

“As an advisor in official forums and as an ambassador for science, Prof Karim has richly influenced our response to this pandemic, and enabled public public understanding of COVID-19 through his clear and endearing communication of the science behind this global challenge to human health.

Media enquiries: 
Tyrone Seale
Acting Spokesperson to the President
Cell: 083 575 7440

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