Immunology as a medical discipline in South Africa: Why, how and what form?

Abstract

Immunology underlies most of the biological and clinical disciplines in medicine, including autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases and HIV,primary immunodeficiency, allergy, cancer and transplantation medicine. The formalised use of immunology knowledge, laboratory techniques and targeted immunotherapies in routine clinical practice is currently commonplace in most parts of the world. It is the most rapidly advancing field in medicine, and there is a definite need for generalists to keep up with advances in knowledge that impact on patient management. This is the impetus behind this month’s 

CME entitled ‘Updates in immunology and allergy’. The medical community, both clinical and pathology disciplines, can no longer afford to see immunology as a ‘black box’ discipline irrelevant to day-to-day patient management or only applicable to the uncommon case of immunodeficiency or autoimmune
disease. For South African (SA) doctors this means considering immunology beyond HIV medicine. Is it time for immunology in SA, amidst competing public health needs, to be established as a distinct specialty or sub-specialty discipline?