Blanche Pitt, MSc, has been appointed as country director for ICAP in South Africa. She will continue to serve as ICAP regional project director for the multi-country Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (PHIA) project.

“Blanche has been an accomplished leader throughout her career and in her work with ICAP,” said Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, ICAP’s founder and global director. “I am thrilled that she will now lead our work in South Africa and bring her skills and experience to this important role.”

Ms. Pitt, a South African national with a graduate degree in health education and health promotion, is a public health specialist with over 25 years’ experience in both government and NGO health sectors. She is highly experienced in project design and management and is an expert at building strategic partnerships with key stakeholders and partners as well as national health leaders.

In her role as the regional project director for the PHIA project, based in the ICAP South Africa office, Ms. Pitt has provided high-level strategic guidance and oversight to the numerous national PHIA surveys to ensure their timely and high quality implementation. She has also managed ICAP’s very strong regional PHIA staff team, who have made major contributions toward the successful implementation of this high-profile, multi-country project.

Prior to her regional role, Ms. Pitt served as country director for ICAP in Lesotho, where she led ICAP’s highly successful portfolio focused on the scale-up of HIV/TB and HIV care and treatment. Ms. Pitt also held prior country director positions with The African Medical and Research Foundation in both South Africa and Tanzania, and from 1998-2001 she served as the Director of Health Promotion within the National Ministry of Health in South Africa.