“Irreplaceable,” is how Dr Norbert Ndjeka, Department of Health Drug-Resistant TB, TB and HIV director, described Dr Iqbal Master, who succumbed to Covid-19 in Durban’s Shifa Hospital on a Friday evening in mid-January.
Master served for 26 years in the TB section of King Dinuzulu Hospital in Durban, 14 of those years as manager. He also served on various national and international advisory committees.
“We have lost, I think, the most experienced treater of drug-resistant TB, not only in South Africa but in the world,” said Dr Francesca Conradie, deputy president of the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society.
Professor Graeme Meintjes, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Cape Town, called Master “a hero who led through his actions, and made a positive difference in the lives of tens of thousands of his patients”.
Legend in fight against TB dies 18 January 2021 - 10:46 Image: Supplied
The SA Association of Hospital and Institutional Pharmacists (SAAHIP) confirmed his death on Sunday.
KwaZulu-Natal coastal chairperson Kirtan Kasiram said Master was always at the forefront of treating “this monster of a disease”.
“Working hand in hand with many health care professionals, his goal was always clear.
“His approach to end TB was always with calm and careful insight, endlessly working on up-to-date research at the heart of the TB pandemic in KwaZulu-Natal.
“Dedicating his time at King Dinizulu Hospital, he was unequivocally the goal standard adviser on best practice in TB management,” Kasiram said.