Lessons from a policy master

On a warm, dark evening in early October, I had the privilege of finding myself in Pretoria, South Africa with a group of nurse colleagues from many southern African nations, listening as various leaders brought messages of greetings before we were to share dinner. The minister of health had fallen ill that day and was replaced at the last minute by her director general. The minister’s illness turned out to be an interesting turn of fate for us, because the comments of the director general amounted to a master class in policy – and he was able to say things that she surely never could have said.