“A woman is now at the helm of one of the most important organisations in the country. I ask you to support her, and I require of her not to disappoint us. We would like to see Eswatini free of HIV/AIDS, and that is your greatest task."  

This is what Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini had to say when he announced University of the Western Cape (UWC) post-doctoral student Dr Nondumiso BQ Ginindza-Ncube as the new National Executive Director of the National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS (NERCHA) in the Kingdom of Eswatini. Dr Ginindza-Ncube graduated with her PhD at UWC’s School of Public Health in 2021 and is currently a research fellow in Pharmaceutical Public Health at the School.

NERCHA is a government parastatal established in 2001 to provide leadership in the coordination and facilitation of the multi-sectoral emergency response to high levels of HIV and AIDS in Eswatini. Dr Ginindza-Ncube will aim to work towards ending HIV/AIDs as a public health threat in Eswatini. Eswatini was among the first few countries to attain the global UNAIDS goal to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Dr Ginindza-Ncube said evidence from studies conducted in Eswatini shows that certain population groups, such as adolescent girls and boys, are lagging.

As she takes on this new role, Dr Ginindza-Ncube hopes to work with these priority groups to ensure that no one is left behind in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, she plans to explore possibilities of expanding NERCHA’s role beyond the management of HIV to tuberculosis and malaria by using lessons learned thus far to integrate other disease profiles (e.g. non-communicable diseases - NCDs) to support the country’s efforts to build a strong and resilient public health system for strengthening Eswatini’s emergency response.

Dr Ginindza-Ncube has over 18 years of experience in the health sector and has worked in several positions in Eswatini, including in the areas of Pharmaceutical systems strengthening, supply chain management, HIV/AIDS, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and antimicrobial stewardship. In addition to her doctoral degree, she also has a Master's degree in Clinical Epidemiology, a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) degree, and a Bachelor of Science degree with majors in Biology and Chemistry.

UWC’s Dr Hazel Bradley, who was her supervisor during her PhD at UWC, said she is delighted with the appointment. She has come to know Dr Ginindza-Ncube as a talented, hard-working, and innovative leader, and she is sure that her broad practical experience gained within Eswatini, as well as her research and health systems experience from UWC, will enable her to fulfil the mandate of this new role. 

Picture caption:  Dr Ginindza-Ncube during her journey at UWC. Here she is pictured with Dr Hazel Bradley and Prof Richard Laing who supervised her PhD thesis.