Bibi-Aisha Wadvalla

Bibi-Aisha Wadvalla is a journalist who believes the media is an essential pillar of public health. After covering the Arab Spring revolution in Egypt and Libya, she returned to South Africa with a strengthened resolve to be a part of change in the country, to work towards social and economic equity. She shifted direction, focused on health journalism, and enrolled for a Masters in Public Health. During her MPH coursework, it was the Public Health and Human Rights class that influenced her career path: advocating for health equity, and addressing the social and structural determinants of health. Previously, she worked for eNCA as a health/science reporter and at the SABC as a Middle East correspondent/SAfm current affairs presenter. Her work has appeared on Al-Jazeera, The Guardian, the British Medical Journal, IPS, Nature Middle East, SciDev.net and Daily News Egypt. She’s received several reporting fellowships from the Reuters Foundation, National Press Foundation, International Women’s Media Foundation, the World Federation of Science Journalists and the Africa-China Reporting Project.