About Us | Wits RHI

The Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (Wits RHI) was established by Professor Helen Rees in 1994 to support the new South African government formulate and implement new national policies around sexual and reproductive health.

Today we are one of the leading multi-disciplinary institutes in Africa with an extensive portfolio that includes research, programmatic support, training, policy development, health systems strengthening and technical assistance at national and international levels. Our areas of expertise encompass HIV, sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs).

Our aim is to

Understand pathways for intervention
Improve access to quality services
Expand prevention and treatment choices
Generate data for policy and programming
Build research capacity to expand generation and application of evidence

Wits RHI is part of the Faculty of Health Sciences and the largest research institute of the University of the Witwatersrand. We are a UNAIDS and South African Medical Research Council (MRC) collaborating centre as well as a United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) strategic partner.

Our vison, mission and values