A 30-year dedication to promoting community-based health care has earned a Kenyan scholar international recognition.

Prof Miriam Were, who was dismissed as a "dreamer" for her efforts to entrench community-based health care in the mainstream health programmes, is the proud winner of the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize 2008.

The coveted award, worth 100 million Japanese yen (about Sh63 million), is given by the Japanese government.

Prof Were wins the award jointly with British scientist Brian Greenwood for his innovative research work in fighting malaria.

Worthy dedication

The Kenyan scholar who has trailblazed numerous paths in community health locally and in the region basks in the satisfaction that her efforts have not been in vain.

"When I set out to focus on community healthcare, people laughed at me. Nobody saw the need for such an intervention; they chided me and some said community-based approach was useless. They said the world was changing and nobody would give a thought to community stuff. But here I am today and I see my work has paid off," said an elated Prof Were.

And it really must have been some worthy dedication that earned her the award.

Prof Were, the chairperson of the National Aids Control Council, has been honoured for her efforts to bring basic medical services and health rights to women and children in villages across East Africa. It is through her work that she is now viewed as a beacon of hope for millions of people in Africa and around the world.

A chronology of her community health campaigns attests to this. She was puffing health to all and sundry since the '70s.

Deliberate vow

"Ever since I joined the medical fraternity both as a lecturer and as an expert in the early seventies I have felt the need to push for easy access to health care. During the pre-colonial period and as my medical experience was enhanced I became increasingly appalled by the fact that vulnerable and poor communities of mostly the local people could only access Aspirin as a remedy for almost all illnesses. It is at this very early stage that I made a deliberate vow to push for adequate health care to all vulnerable communities," she recalls.

She recounts the challenges encountered back then when colonialists demonised alternative herbal treatment by traditional healers as "witchcraft" while the local people lacked contemporary medical care.

"The situation in the seventies and early eighties left many people helpless and desperate," she explains.

After completing her masters degree at the John Hopkins University, in 1975 Prof Were came back to set up pilot projects on how the Ministry of Health and the local communities can work together for the expansion of affordable health care.

"I am delighted that the Ministry of Health has been supportive and recognised the importance of engaging the community in community-based health care," she said.

In honouring her achievements in this area that earned her the award, the government of Japan acknowledged her work with the African Medical and Research Foundation (Amref) and Uzima Foundation where she has been a source of inspiration for all people on the African continent.

For the past 40 years, Prof Were has dedicated her life to advancing the health and welfare of the people of Africa by focusing on the practicality of delivering service at a local level.

She has united communities to develop and implement innovative solutions to the ordinary everyday health problems.

The most illustrious example of her community-based approach is her ongoing work to build public toilets in local communities, improving hygiene and overcoming long-standing taboos.

She also drastically raised infant vaccination rates 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 East Africa and across the entire continent, through her engagement with the African Union and as a key health adviser to the African Heads of State.

She has also been recognised for her efforts in the war against the HIV and Aids scourge, a field she is mostly known for locally especially as she is the chairperson of NACC.

Bold and innovative

Her style of work through the direct engagement of the youth, sex workers, intravenous drug users and homosexuals to encourage openness and frank discussion on sexuality and HIV and Aids has galvanised communities in Kenya and contributed to the reduction of stigma and discrimination against people living with the scourge.

British scientist Greenwood won the award for his bold and innovative work on malaria.

At a time when malaria was spreading uncontrollably across the African continent claiming more than 1 million lives a year, Greenwood contributed to the creation and designing of effective strategies to control malaria.

His contributions in malaria research helped develop tools and knowledge essential in turning the tide on the disease.

The Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize honours individuals with outstanding achievements in the fields of medical research and medical services to combat infectious and other diseases in Africa, thus contributing to the health and welfare of the African people and of all humankind.