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Kenya: Health Professor Awarded
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The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
27 March 2008
Posted to the web 27 March 2008
Kenya's Professor Miriam Were was yesterday named Japan's outstanding achiever (laureate) for the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prizes.
The award honours individuals with outstanding achievements in the fields of medical research and services to combat infectious and other diseases on the continent.
Professor Were, who currently chairs Kenya's National Aids Control Council would take home Japanese Yen 100 million (Sh700 million), a citation and a medal for her award.
This Prize will be awarded every five years to coincide with the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (Ticad). The first award will be presented at the winners award ceremony during Ticad IV in May, this year.
Professor Were who was recognised for her efforts to bring basic medical services and health rights to women and children in the villages of East Africa, was described as a beacon of hope for millions of people in Africa and the world.
"The spread of infectious diseases presents a common threat to all humankind," noted the organisers of the award, and this especially in Africa, which is a "region facing the most serious health challenge on the globe".
According to a statement released by the organisers, Professor Were's work with African Medical and Research Foundation (Amref) and Uzima Foundation has been a source of inspiration for all people on the African continent.
For the past 40 years, Professor Were has dedicated her life to advancing the health and welfare of the people of Africa through a focus on the practicalities of delivering service at a local level.
She has united communities to develop and implement innovative solutions to quotidian health problems.
The most illustrious example of her community-based approach is her ongoing work to build public toilet facilities in local communities, improving hygiene and overcoming longstanding taboos.
She raised the infant vaccination rate by organising children into small groups to visit local clinics. Her innovation and systemic precedents have had enduring impacts not only in Kenya but throughout the East African region and across the entire continent, through her engagement with the African Union and as a key health advisor to the African Heads of State on Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
She has implemented a number of activities aimed at creating awareness on HIV/Aids effects targeting youths, sex workers, intravenous drug users, homosexuals and others by encouraging openness and frank discussion on sexuality and HIV/Aids.
Born in 1940, she holds a doctorate degree in Public Health, Health Planning and Management (1981) from Johns Hopkins University. She is also a co-founder and Health Specialist for Uzima Foundation in Kenya.
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Another beneficiary of the award is a British, Prof. Brian Greenwood, born 1938 in the UK.
He has been recognised for his bold and innovative work on malaria at a time the disease was spreading almost uncontrollably across the African continent, claiming more than one million lives a year.
"His crucial contributions in malaria research greatly helped developing the tools and knowledge that are essential in turning the tide on this terrible disease," said the statement.
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