Award: Law

Tireless fight for access to healthcare

Human rights lawyer, social justice activist and founder of the Health Justice Initiative (HJI) Fatima Hassan (BA 1993, LLB 1995) was awarded the 2022 Calgary Peace Prize for her contribution to justice in the international struggle against global health inequality in May this year. The Calgary Peace Prize recognises outstanding individuals from the global community who work towards making the world a more just, safer and less violent place.

Hassan, who also has an LLM from Duke University, was executive director of the Open Society Foundation of South Africa from mid-2013 to mid-2019. She has dedicated her professional life to defending and promoting human rights, especially in the field of HIV/AIDS, where she worked for the AIDS Law Project. She also acted for the Treatment Action Campaign in many of its legal cases.

Recently she has turned her attention towards injustice associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine hoarding. She is the recipient of several fellowships and awards, including the Franklin Thomas SA Constitutional Court Fellowship, and the Tom and Andi Bernstein Distinguished Human Rights Fellowship at Yale University’s School of Law.

Most recently the HJI has raised red flags over how people access medication under the proposed National Health Insurance Bill. “The entire shift of our medicine selection, procurement and reimbursement system to NHI reimbursement has not been adequately thought through, potentially posing a great risk for the future of medicine selection and access in the country for all people.”

Award: 2022 Calgary Peace Prize for her contribution to justice in the international struggle against global health inequality