The Desmond Tutu Health Foundation expresses its heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Emeritus Professor Eric Bateman. His passing is a profound loss to the medical community, South Africa, and the countless individuals whose lives he touched through his remarkable contributions.
Professor Bateman’s legacy as a distinguished pulmonologist, visionary leader, and founder of the University of Cape Town Lung Institute will endure in the groundbreaking work he pioneered in respiratory health, asthma, COPD management, and community-based healthcare strategies. His dedication to advancing knowledge, fostering innovation, and mentoring generations of healthcare professionals exemplified his unwavering commitment to improving health outcomes for all.
“Eric welcomed the HIV research unit when it moved across from New Somerset Hospital to the newly built UCT Lung Institute – his vision for catalysing innovation and research resonated with us and our collaboration with the Lung Institute has lasted more than two decades. Eric was a wonderful human being, a superb researcher and academic and an excellent pulmonologist. Always a gentleman, his quiet but very real sense of humour complimented his strong moral fibre. We will always remember him.”
Our thoughts and prayers are with Mary and his family during this difficult time. We join the wider community in mourning his loss and celebrating a life dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of others.
~ Linda-Gail Bekker, Robin Wood and the whole of DTHF
