Professor (Hanna-) Andrea Rother
Celebrating women across the globe helping to prevent deaths from pesticide self-poisoning.Addressing the health impacts from chemicals through research, education, and policy engagement
Name
Professor (Hanna-) Andrea Rother
Job role
Head, Division of Environmental Health at the School of Public Health, University of Cape Town
Location
South Africa
Tell us about your role?
My work centres on various issues relating to pesticides. These include working on national, regional and international (United Nations) policies to prevent workers, women, children and other at-risk populations from hazardous exposures; improving hazard and risk communication tools, particularly providing the means for improving comprehension of these; conducting research highlighting exposures, policy gaps and solutions; and addressing health impacts from the chemicals – climate change nexus.
Why is this work important to you?
As an academic, my work is driven by the desire to save children’s lives and protect their quality of life free from hazardous exposures and long-term health effects. Empowering women, workers, environmental health practitioners, students, and decision-makers in low-and middle-income countries to have agency to prevent and reduce pesticide risks is key. Sharing comprehensible information, developing educational programmes and providing alternative approaches is a challenge I embrace.
This profile has been compiled for International Women’s Day 2025, to celebrate the incredible women worldwide who are helping to prevent deaths from pesticide self-poisoning.