PROFILE: Dr. Nomonde Xundu

Dr Nomonde Xundu commenced with her duties on Tuesday, 1 November 2011.  She is not new in the department as she previously worked as a technical advisor on the clinical aspects of HIV and Aids and TB. She later took up a management position of Director for Health Sector aspects of the HIV and Aids and TB programme.

She led the introduction of the Prevention of Mother-to-Child-Transmission (PMTCT) and Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) in the province – now one of the largest programmes in the country.

Before rejoining the department, Dr Xundu was the Health Attaché at the South African Embassy in Washington DC. She was transferred to this post from the national Department of Health in November 2008 where she championed the national HIV and Aids and TB programme.

Dr Xundu qualified with a BA Social Work degree from the University of Fort Hare in 1980 and worked as a Social Worker in the Eastern Cape for five years. She was offered a place to study Medicine at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) in 1986 and obtained her MBBCh degree in 1992.

After spending three years as a Registrar in Internal Medicine at the same university, Dr Xundu completed a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H) from Wits in 2000 after which she enrolled for a Masters in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. She has an extensive experience in clinical medicine, policy development and implementation in the Public Health Sector.