Discovery Foundation

Over the past 10 years, the Discovery Foundation has invested over R189 million in grants to support academic medicine through research, development and the training of medical specialists in South Africa.

The DiScovery Foundation's aim is to invest R300 million towards specialised healthcare services over 20 years. These grants include scholarships, bursaries, research fellowships and support for teaching and research institutions. The Discovery Foundation Awards honour and reward excellence in our country’s healthcare sector.

Set up in 2006 as one element of Discovery Limited’s Black Economic Empowerment transaction, the Discovery Foundation, an independent trust, aimed to invest R150 million in grants that were geared towards the education and training of 300 healthcare specialists over a period of 10 years. South Africa is experiencing a critical shortage of healthcare resources. The grants disbursed by the Discovery Foundation Awards aim to address this challenge by training specialists for rural areas, developing academic medicine and research centres and increasing the number of sub-specialists in the country to adequately meet the country’s healthcare needs.

Over the past 11 years, the Discovery Foundation surpassed expectations and invested over R189 million in grants to support academic medicine through research, development and the training of medical specialists in South Africa. Its aim is to invest R300 million towards specialised healthcare services over 20 years. These grants include scholarships, bursaries, research fellowships and support for teaching and research institutions. The Discovery Foundation Awards honour and reward excellence in our country’s healthcare sector.

South Africa has a great medical legacy of research, invention, and technological innovation – we were the first country to show the world how to do heart transplants and we invented the CAT scan, which is used worldwide. South Africa is home to talented medical experts, outstanding academic institutions and excellent private healthcare services. Even so, the majority of South Africans are unable to afford anything more than the most basic healthcare services and the facilities they depend on are often overburdened, understaffed and underfunded. The Discovery Foundation is committed to making a contribution to the future health and wellbeing of all South Africans to ensure affordable, quality healthcare is accessible to all.

Through the considered interventions of the Discovery Foundation in the healthcare industry, we believe we can bring quality healthcare infrastructure and services within reach of many communities who have previously not had access, while keeping the high standards of our country’s private healthcare system and safeguarding our legacy.