Several extraordinary people have been involved in taking 
the HIV Clinicians Society from a small group of interested 
clinicians to one of the largest medical interest groups in 
the world.

Mick Graham arrived in South Africa four years ago from 
drizzly London, and has made it his home. Originally 
deployed to help non-governmental organisations sort 
themselves out, through the British-based Volunteer 
Services Organisation (VSO), Mick joined the Society 
during a staffing crisis. On his first day he was tasked with 
getting the Society back on its feet, especially as we had 
just been given a major grant to help establish a range of 
new projects. Deftly negotiating the complex politics that 
bedevil everything around HIV, Mick efficiently improved on 
the organisational structures of the Society while building 
up the staff complement to the stage where it is now self-
sufficient.

Mick’s keen negotiation skills, honed while a justly feared 
trade union representative in his home country, were put

to good use in getting great deals 
from publishers, sponsors and 
advertisers, all for the good of the 
Society. In a very short time he 
established the Society as a viable 
operation, with the Journal, Transcript, the guidelines and 
much of our commercial communication rapidly gaining 
financial independence. Mick’s attention to organisational 
process has ensured that today the Society is a much 
stronger and more robust organisation, well positioned for 
the challenges of the future.

Mick will always be the ideal dinnertime companion. 
Conversations are liberally sprinkled with ‘As my good 
friend George Bernard Shaw said …’, when not regaling us 
with his lunches with Prime Minister Tony Blair and stories 
from Northern England’s steelworks.

We owe Mick a large debt, and will miss his contribution to 
fighting HIV, less than efficient contractors, and bad white 
wine. The Society, the general manager and the Executive 
wish him well in his semi-retirement.  

Francois, Fatima, Pat, Natalie, Jean, Chloe, Kerry, 
Linda-Gail

5

There is a strong feeling in the field that it is ‘back to the 
drawing board’ on prevention in HIV.  Perhaps the most 
compelling possibilities going forward involve the use 
of antiretrovirals for prevention. Without doubt, next to 
prevention of vertical transmission the most emotive reasons 
for prevention include the immediate use of antivirals to 
prevent infection in those recently exposed. A large part of 
this spring edition is dedicated to post-exposure prophylaxis 
(PEP). The reduction of mother-to-child transmission is 
evidence that antiviral therapy at the time when infection 
is occurring can abort the establishment of that infection. 
The PEP guidelines as they appear in this edition may be 
thought of as controversial, and we welcome comments in 
this regard. There is an equally controversial legal take on 
the risks of HIV transmission in sport by Verrier and Tuson, 
and a short report on the importance of counselling and 

support for rape victims who are taking antivirals after rape. 
The issue also includes an account of the local experience 
of engaging with traditional healers in HIV programmes 
by Wreford and Esser, and some recommendations for 
completing death notification forms in the HIV era by 
Smith. Woods et al. describe the challenges of training 
health professionals, in particular nurses, to manage HIV, 
and present an innovative methodology for training. 
Finally there are two instructive clinical case studies, one 
on rhabdomyolysis following a drug reaction in an infected 
patient by Ramogi and the other the all too common 
problem of concurrent treatment of tuberculosis and HIV 
by Conradie, with a second opinion from Meintjes. 

It has been said that a week in politics is a lifetime, and this 
can seldom have been better illustrated than by the past 
few weeks in South Africa. The political turbulence in our 
country has also seen the closing of the ‘Manto’ era, and 
many, activists and practitioners alike, have voiced an array 
of sentiments about this in the last few days. Those of us 
(and thankfully there are many) committed to seeing the 
countrywide, successful roll-out of PMTCT, antiretrovirals, 
testing and a variety of prevention strategies, as well as 
solid operational research, wish Health Minister Barbara 
Hogan and her team strength, wisdom and tenacity in 
taking us forward with bold new steps.

LINDA-GAIL BEKKER
Editor

F R O M  T H E  E DI TOR

THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN JOURNAL OF HIV MEDICINE                                                          WINTER  2008

MICK GRAHAM
T R I B U T E

From the editor.indd   1 10/14/08   9:48:59 AM