Dr.
Surgeon, senior lecturer
Capetown University, South Africa

Ravi is a general surgeon with more than 30 years of clinical experience across both public and private healthcare sectors in South Africa. He is currently a senior lecturer in the Global Surgery Division, University of Cape Town.

Over the past two decades, his work has focused on expanding access to safe, high-quality surgery and anaesthesia in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). He has led change in undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as in clinical practice, most notably through the introduction and implementation of the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) programme. Ravi was an early adopter of advanced laparoscopic surgery in South Africa and he has consistently championed surgical innovation.

He is actively engaged with several key regional and national bodies, including the South African Endoscopic Surgical Society, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Technical Expert Working Group, the South African Technical Working Group on Safe Surgical Care, and the South African Perioperative Research Group.

Ravi believes that true progress in LMICs lies in combining clinical innovation with health system-level reforms, an approach that not only expands access to surgical services but also strengthens their safety, scalability and sustainability, ultimately improving outcomes and equity in care.