3rd April, 2008
AMREF board member and former chair, Dr Miriam Were, was recently awarded the inaugural Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize from the Japanese Government for her efforts to bring basic medical services and health rights to women and children in the villages of East Africa. A spokesperson for the prize said: “Dr Were has been a beacon of hope for millions of people in Africa and the world. Through her work with African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) and UZIMA Foundation, Were has been a source of inspiration for all people on the African continent.”
Dr Were, a Kenyan doctor and chair of the National AIDS Control Council in Kenya, was awarded the prize following an extensive selection process by the Japanese Government in co-operation with the World Health Organisation. The prize was awarded jointly to Professor Brian Greenwood of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine for his contribution to the global fight against malaria.
On hearing the news about the prize, Dr Were said: “I am thrilled and delighted to receive the 2008 Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize. Firstly, over and above recognition of my life-long commitment to the place of the community in the expansion of medical/health services, I see this as also being recognition of the importance of the community in health and overall development of Africa. It is to this community focus that AMREF is committed and I am happy to be in the AMREF family. As I have often said, if it doesn’t happen in the community, it doesn’t happen in the nation. The community is crucial to Africa’s development and well-being.”
Dr Were adds: “I am thrilled that the prize money attached to the award will go to support some of the unfunded work of UZIMA foundation that is focused on empowering young people as a means of improving their own health and well-being. Next to the neglect of ‘community’ in development work, ‘young people’ hold second place among the neglected with respect to the role that they can play in contributing to their own health development and community development in general.
The Hideyo Noguchi Africa prize honours the memory of Doctor Hideyo Noguchi who worked hard to discover a vaccine for yellow fever. His dedication to this scientific research ultimately claimed his own life when he died from yellow fever in Ghana some 80 years ago.
Dr Were was commended in particular for her expertise and years of experience in community-based approaches to health services, fighting HIV/AIDS and harnessing the powers of NGOs. Noted achievements included: increasing child vaccination rates in Kenya, contributing to a significant reduction and discrimination of people living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya and providing strong leadership of the Kenyan National AIDS Control Council, which has managed to reduce HIV prevalence rates and AIDS-related mortality in the country.
Dr Were is no stranger to winning awards. She has also been awarded the Gates Award for Global Health on behalf of AMREF and numerous others. In May, Dr Were will co-chair the 35th Global Health Council’s international conference in Washington DC.