A LIFE’S WORK Professor Dr Mohammed Rafik Gardee, MBE (Medicine, 1966) has dedicated 40 years to the compassionate practice of medicine in primary healthcare, across continents and countries, and highlighted the inequality and lack of opportunities for ethnic minorities working in the NHS
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he family of Professor Rafik Gardee, who completed his degree at RCSI in 1966, refer to themselves as a “mini United Nations” which is diverse in its composition and spread, with members scattered all over Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas. They are all the progeny, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of one extraordinary man, Mohammed Gardee, who migrated from India to South Africa in 1908. Mohammed was both entrepreneur and philanthropist, a successful small business owner who used his relative prosperity to improve the lot of the underprivileged community he served. He settled close to White River in the Transvaal Lowveld (now called the Mpumalanga Lowveld) and his generosity led to the first wellbeing clinic being built in the area. The clinic was also the first medical clinic for black people in the region. Although he was not a medic himself, Mohammed, via his philanthropic work, created a tradition of involvement in primary healthcare which several of his descendants would follow – many are doctors, nurses, or somehow involved in public service. This strong tradition certainly inspired Rafik’s work over almost four decades. “The philanthropic vein that has underpinned my healthcare endeavours was largely inspired by my grandfather and his legacy of uplifting communities and backing the disenfranchised remain a guiding inspiration. His story and by extension my own, demonstrates that when the circle of opportunity is widened, communities are made stronger.” Rafik experienced inequality firsthand, growing up in South Africa under the apartheid regime. After high school in Johannesburg, where he was already somewhat politically active, he persuaded his parents that he should study at RCSI in Dublin and he took to the freedom of the city with gusto, embracing the “respect, kindness and assimilation” of the RCSI community. He became President of the Student Council and had what he describes as “a ball of a time” even visiting the United Nations Student Association in Geneva as an “Irish” delegate. After his graduation from RCSI, Rafik worked in Ireland for four years, for some of that time at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin and Holles Street Hospital. He singles out for particular praise the Medical Missionaries of Mary who then operated Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, their commitment to healthcare excellence and their pioneering work in surgery abroad, particularly in Africa. Rafik returned to South Africa in 1970 and settled in White River, a town in what was then known as the Eastern Transvaal, about 20 miles from Kruger National Park. He practised as a GP but, because of increasingly repressive
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Professor Dr Rafik Gardee
“RCSI PREPARED ME FOR MY CAREER WITH WONDERFUL TEACHING AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN UNDER BRILLIANT CLINICAL LEADERS.” apartheid laws, was only allowed to treat non-whites under dire circumstances – the government clinics were under-resourced and ill equipped. Rafik set up a series of well-equipped clinics in the region, at his own cost, and soon had five separate premises, with nurses he had trained as medical assistants, seeing 80-100 patients a day. Looking after impoverished and disenfranchised communities in rural areas, Rafik prioritised the provision of health care for the underserved non-white community. However, this brought him to the attention of the authorities. When, in 1977, the apartheid regime stepped up its action against opposition groups, and his clinics were raided, Rafik was forced to leave. “They gave me 24 hours to leave the country.” The most difficult aspect of his expulsion was leaving his patients behind to an uncertain fate. “Remember, our clinics were serving the non-white communities in an area half the size of Ireland. We not only provided diagnosis and treatment but also started initiatives to reach parents by providing simple handheld clinic records of their children’s health issues (a first of its kind in South Africa), targeting preventable diseases. We also made strides in mental
