Sir Sandy Macara, 1932-2012

Sir Sandy Macara

26 June 2012

Sir Sandy Macara, former chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA) and Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine at Bristol University, has died aged 80. Professor Jonathan Sterne, from the School of Social and Community Medicine, offers this tribute.

Staff of the University of Bristol's School of Social and Community Medicine were very saddened to hear of the recent death of Dr Sir Sandy Macara. Dr Macara was committed to improving public health in Bristol throughout his career.

He was first appointed as Lecturer in Public Health in 1963 and was Consultant Senior Lecturer in Public Health from 1976 to 1997. He was a founding member and subsequently Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine.

After his election in 1997 as leader of the British Medical Association, he continued as a tireless campaigner for public health - including speaking out in favour of the MMR vaccine when its safety was being widely challenged on the basis of what turned out to be flawed research.

He was also a World Health Organisation consultant for over 20 years and chaired the National Heart Forum (NHF), where he was president, until his death.

We remember him as a fine teacher of epidemiology, and as a kind senior colleague who kept up his links with the Bristol Department of Social Medicine until quite recently.

Sir Sandy is survived by his wife Lady Sylvia Macara and their children Alexandra and James.

Please see the BBC News website for further information.