11 August 2021
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Story Leonie Bolleurs
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Photo Supplied
Dr Gladys Kigozi believes that the challenges South African women are facing, including sexism, gender-based violence, and food insecurity, are no different from what has been seen for a long time across the rest of the African continent.
Dr Kigozi is the principal investigator of a collaborative project to explore TB patients’ experiences of depression, anxiety, and alcohol abuse. She believes the work that she is part of will inform health-care providers and policy makers’ views on the management of TB patients with comorbid common mental disorders in South Africa.
She is also playing a key role in a collaborative project that explores the well-being of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic (second wave). “The research found that both public and private sector nurses countrywide are experiencing high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder, fuelled by fear of contracting the virus. This is linked to their jobs as health workers and patients’ non-adherence to infection prevention guidelines,” says Dr Kigozi.
Her primary area of research is the social aspects of TB and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). She is involved in various aspects of health, health systems, and health-care research.
“My research is increasingly being recognised for its contribution to local and international TB-HIV literature. I have authored and co-authored one book chapter and 37 peer-reviewed journal publications and presented papers at 40 national and international conferences. My work has been cited 655 times by fellow researchers across the world, and currently, my Google Scholar h-index is 14. I also hold a Y2 National Research Foundation rating, awarded in 2017,” says Dr Kigozi, who believes her biggest quest to be the advancement of her scholarship by undertaking quality research.
During an interview, she moves away from the work she is doing as scientist and tells us about the role her mother is playing in her life, the challenges South African women face, and the value of hard work.
Believing in myself, reaching for the stars without compromising my integrity, and upholding others along the way, makes me a woman of quality, impact, and care. - Dr Gladys Kigozi
Is there a woman who inspires you and who you would like to celebrate this Women’s Month, and why?
Dr Kigozi says her late mother, who always highlighted the importance of two characteristics – integrity and trust – inspired her a great deal. “I still believe in and apply these values in my work as a health systems researcher,” she says.
Her mother also encouraged her to share her ideas, beliefs, and values with others, because she is convinced that intellectual discourse is vital for personal and community development.
Very importantly, she also taught me the value of prayer, saying that “it always pays off,” adds Dr Kigozi.
What is your response to current challenges faced by women and available platforms for women development?
The current challenges South African women are facing, including sexism, gender-based violence, and food insecurity, are no different from what has been seen for a long time across the rest of the African continent, remarks Dr Kigozi.
“A specific challenge I wish to address, relates to (black) women's marginalisation and ‘invisibility’ in general decision-making, and more specifically, policy making and the implementation of policy.”
She believes these challenges could be attributed to, inter alia, restrictive laws and cultural practices, organisational hurdles, and the lack of access to quality education, health care, and other important resources.
Dr Kigozi is of the opinion that one possible solution that would help to reverse some of these challenges, will be to establish appropriate support systems for women, including, but not limited to, workplace policy reforms, mentorship programmes, and peer-to-peer support networks.
What advice would you give to the 15-year-old you?
“If I knew then what I know now, I would have advised my 15-year-old self to ‘bereka mosali’, meaning ‘work, girl child’ in Sesotho,” says Dr Kigozi.
She is, however, very proud of her achievements and accomplishments, and maintains that a little more effort on top of what one does every day, ‘always pays off.’
What would you say makes you a woman of quality, impact, and care?
“I would say that believing in myself, reaching for the stars without compromising my integrity, and upholding others along the way, makes me a woman of quality, impact, and care,” concludes Dr Kigozi.