It is with great sadness that the Open Society- Georgia Foundation announces the death of our beloved colleague, Tea Akhobadze, who died at the Medula Hospital in Tbilisi following a long battle with cancer on June 12, 2010. Ms. Akhobadze, who served as a Coordinator of the Foundation’s Public Health Program for almost seven years, dedicated her life to working on public health issues in Georgia and was a leading expert on harm reduction. She was known for her hard work and finding unconventional solutions to difficult problems.
Tea Akhobadze was born in Tbilisi and graduated from the Tbilisi State University, Faculty of Biology with a honors diploma in Immunology. Later she received Master’s degree in Medicine Social History from the University of Warwick, UK. She began her professional career at the laboratory of immunology and bio technologies where she spent almost 11 years. Later she joined the John Hopkins University Communication Program and served at different times as a staff member of Business-Service center, the Red Cross Georgia and the International Committee of the Red Cross. In 2003 Tea joined OSGF’s Public Health Program where she served first as an assistant and then as a Coordinator of Harm Reduction and Access to Medicines Programs.
Till the last day of her life, Tea worked at the Foundation without sparing her energy to achieve the goals set, trying to push ahead changes in the country, to decriminalize drug use and to ensure access to medicines for the most vulnerable. Tea’s loss is a devastating blow not only to her family and friends but also to the whole public health sector in Georgia.