~ ABOUT US ~
The SASTM’s Mission is to guide the profession in all aspects relating to the practice of travel medicine, liaise with the travel industry, consult with relevant authorities, advise the public and collaborate nationally and internationally on all aspects relating to Travel Medicine.
THE GOALS OF THE SOCIETY ARE
To promote excellence in the practice of Travel Medicine.
To act as a local and international reference body on Travel Medicine.
To serve as an advisory body on Travel Medicine to the South African Department of Health.
To facilitate local and international collaboration in the field of Travel Medicine.
To promote, facilitate and accredit the education of health care professionals in the practise of Travel Medicine.
To prepare technical guidelines on Travel Medicine.
To encourage excellence in appropriate research and professional publication in Travel Medicine
SASTM Executive Committee 2025
Dr Albie de Frey – SASTM President
Dr Albie de Frey is a founding member, past president and active member of the Executive since SASTM’s inception. He is an honorary lecturer in Travel Medicine at the University of Witwatersrand. He is the founding member of Worldwide Travel Medical Consultants which provides comprehensive travel health risk management since 1995 to various multi-national companies and Director of The Travel Doctor, a travel health provider network.
Dr Max Winkler – SASTM President-Elect
He qualified in 2008 at the University of Cape Town. He is currently employed as a general practitioner in Hout Bay, Western Cape. Dr. Winkler runs a Travel Clinic within his practice. He was awarded the GSK Best Student Award in 2015.
Dr Judy Hoare – SASTM Treasurer
She qualified at the University of Cape Town in 1985. She has been in General Practice since 1992 and is currently in private practice in Glenashley, Durban.
Dr Salim Parker – Executive Member
ISTM Liaison Officer: Dr Salim Parker is a General Practitioner with an interest in Hajj travel. He has been accompanying pilgrims as a medical officer in 2000. Dr Parker gives Hajj travel talks at Hajj classes in Cape Town, and engages in extensive pre-travel consultations. He is also a medical co-ordinator for Jive 10km Big Walk, which is the biggest 10km walk in Africa, with about 20 000 participants annually.
Dr Rochelle Lee – Executive Member
Dr Rochelle Lee Studied MBChB at University of Pretoria and qualified in 2010. She worked in Emergency Medicine and was also part of a travel medicine clinic. She joined a GP and Travel Medicine practice in 2022 before relocating to Zambia.
She is currently working as the Senior Medical Doctor in a mine Hospital in Solwezi, Zambia where they manage a lot of tropical diseases, especially the conditions we as travel practitioners aim to prevent in our travellers.
Mrs Lynda Steyn – Executive Member
Mrs Steyn studied pharmacy at the University of the Witwatersrand and graduated with a BPharm in 1993. She then worked in retail and hospital pharmacy in South Africa before moving to the United States in 1997, where she worked as a pharmacist for six years. Upon returning to South Africa in 2003 she worked in retail and hospital pharmacies until joining Amayeza Info Services as a Medicine Information Pharmacist in 2015.
As part of medicine information, she writes articles for various medical journals and also does training for nurses, pharmacists and doctors in Vaccinology. Mrs Steyn completed the SASTM Travel Medicine Course in 2019 with distinction and became a member of the SASTM Executive Committee in October 2021.
Dr Chandré Balie – Executive Member
She studied medicine at the University of Pretoria. She works as a general practitioner at 24-hour GP practice in Centurion, where she assists with the travel clinic.
Prof Theunis Avenant – Executive Member
Professor Avenant heads the Department of Paediatrics at Kalafong Provincial Tertiary Hospital, a teaching hospital of the University of Pretoria.
He is a registered sub-specialist in Paediatric Infectious Diseases and regularly lectures at conferences on diverse topics in this field.
In addition to serving on several University and Hospital committees he has served on the Executive Committees of the South African Paediatric Association (SAPA) and the Southern African Society of Paediatric Infectious Diseases.
He has published in leading peer-reviewed journals such as PLOS Medicine, Journal of Clinical Virology and Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Other interests include travel medicine, undergraduate and postgraduate medical training.
Mrs Marion Blewett – SASTM Administrator
admin@sastm.org.za