Miriam Were - Winner of Inaugural Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize

Next on the honour roll of Kenya's women professors is Miriam Were, in light of her recent award of the inaugural Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize for Medical Services on 28 May 2008. The prestigious award was presented in recognition of her efforts to bring basic medical services and health care to women and children in the villages of East Africa.

Indeed, Prof Miriam Were’s efforts are a testimony of her commitment to community-based approaches to the delivery of health care in Africa. She is well known nationally in her present capacity as Chair of Kenya’s National AIDS Control Council (NACC), the organization that coordinates the activities of national and international stakeholders involved in Kenya’s response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Miriam Were’s excellence in the medical field can be traced back to 1973 when she graduated as the best overall medical student at Uganda’s Makerere University. She went on to specialize in community public health and received her Master of Public Health (1976) and Doctor of Public Health (1981) from Johns Hopkins University. Between 1974 and 1985, she taught Community Health at the University of Nairobi’s Faculty of Medicine and was the Chair of the Department of Community Health from 1982 to 1985.

Aside from the local academic scene, Miriam Were has also distinguished herself as a medical professional of international repute and boasts over 10 years’ work experience in high-level international postings. She has served as the Chief Health and Nutrition Adviser to UNICEF (1985-90), World Health Organization Chief of Mission to Ethiopia (1990-93) and Director of the United Nations Population Fund Country Support Team in Ethiopia (1993-2000).

In addition to her work at the National AIDS Control Council, Prof Were is currently a member of the board of trustees of Uzima Foundation, a charitable organization she co-founded in 1995 that seeks to empower the youth through improved health, including prevention of HIV infection and malaria.

Additionally, she sits on the international board of AMREF (African Medical and Research Foundation), an international African NGO with 50 years’ experience in providing poor communities in Africa with improved access to basic health care.