During the HIV pandemic that escalated into a national crisis in South Africa,  a hospital in the city of Durban emerged as an internationally recognised community of care, treatment and research.

The story of McCord Hospital is an intersection of faith, medical pioneers, community making and knowledge production. Written by two historians and a medical doctor, the book traces the arc of McCord Hospital from its humble roots in the early twentieth century through to its role as a global leader in the fight against HIV, bringing to life the tensions, triumphs and challenges of this era.

Sinikithemba is a history of the interface between medicine and society. It is impossible to understand the development of McCord’s innovative HIV programmes without an understanding of McCord as a dynamic community of care, as a place sustained by thousands of people in Durban, and as a mission hospital that fought for survival and retained its sense of purpose under successive South African governments.

Sinikthemba is a testament to what happens when a community refuses to surrender and a powerful reminder that healing is not only a medical act but a deeply human one too.

Click here to preorder Sinikithemba

'Sinikithemba: The Labour of Hope and Science at McCord Hospital in the Era of HIV' is published by Jacana Media