Memorial A.J. Orenstein Lecture presented by Professor Glenda Gray

The Faculty of Health Sciences Annual Memorial A.J. Orenstein Lecture will take place on Thursday 7 September at 17h00

The Annual Memorial A.J. Orenstein Lecture will be presented by Professor Glenda Gray, NRF A-rated scientist, CEO and President of the South African Medical Research Council , named as  Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World 2017.

Her presentation is entitled HIV/AIDS: Battling to win the Battle.

This lecture is CPD accredited and ALL are welcome to attend.

The Faculty of Health Sciences at Wits University instituted the series in 1962 as part of the inception of the Adler Museum of Medicine, with support from the Chamber of Mines.

 More About the Annual Memorial A.J. Orenstein Lecture:

Delivered for the first time by Major General Orenstein under the auspices of the Medical Graduates Association, the memorial lecture today perpetuates the memory of the late Major General Orenstein and serves to commemorate the part he played in the establishment of the medical services in the mining industry.

Major General Alexander Jeremiah Orenstein, an American physician who pioneered new methods of combating pneumonia during the construction of the Panama Canal, helped curb the devastating Spanish influenza epidemic that hit Kimberley just after the end of World War I.

Once the epidemic passed he turned his energies to 'Health Services' in the mining industry. He soon established a 'department of sanitation' and set about revolutionising the appalling medical care and sanitation conditions prevalent in the mining industry at the time. He contributed to the redesign and layout of mine hospitals, the appointment of full- time medical officers on the mines and the introduction of first-aid courses. He was socially recognised as the supreme authority on the health of mineworkers and was significantly influential in the field of nursing, so much so that he has been accorded the well-deserved title: 'The father of black nursing' in South Africa.

The lecture is the Faculty’s most prestigious lecture and is held as part of the Faculty’s Alumni Week in September of each year. Previous speakers of this prestigious lecture have included: Professor PV Tobias, Professor JHS Gear, Dr Sydney Brenner and most recently Dr Emmanuel Maksa.

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