Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, has been inducted as a Fellow of Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, London, United Kingdom.

The minister, who is a past President of African Organisation for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC), received his Fellowship on Friday in London.

Fellow ad eundem is awarded to persons who are not members of the college but have contributed to the advancement of the science or practise of obstetrics and gynaecology and whom Council considers to have furthered the interest of the specialty.

At a side discussion with members of the media, Prof Adewole talked about his Fellowship, saying: “I think it is not really an award or honour to me as an individual. I think it is an award to Nigeria. An award to all for what we have done over the years not just by myself but my collaborators, co-workers, my students and colleagues done together across the world to promote the health and well-being of women and children.”

On maternal deaths in Nigeria, the new Fellow added that the country is doing all she can under a new regime of changes within the health services.

He said: “By records, we have not done so well with under-5 mortality and maternal rate. There is a new sense of urgency in the industry that things most take a new turn. That we must change the trajectory and that we most removed Nigeria from the pariah status nation that we have founded ourselves.

“The causes are not too far-fetched. If the woman does not do well in pregnancy and during labour and delivery, then the baby is not expected to do well. If we failed to immunise our children, we expect the under-5 mortality to be low because children who are not immunised are prong to preventable illnesses. When we do not have a healthy system that is resilient, that is strong and responsive; we expect things to be poor. That is why we see our new collaboration with international bodies very relevant and give rooms for exchange of scholars and scholarship.”

The event was attended by global scientists and practitioners and only three persons were awarded Fellow ad eundem the highest of such. In attendance were the Chair Committee NASS, the Ag. Director-General Mrs Yetunde Oni of NAFDAC amongst other international stakeholders. The ceremony was presided over by the President, Dr. David Richmond.

Prof Adewole was the Principal Investigator of the AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria (APIN), University of Ibadan, and Co-Principal Investigator of the Medical Education Partnership Initiative in Nigerian (MEPIN). He was a former Chairman of the National Tasks Team on Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in Nigeria. He was also the country’s Principal Investigator for the ‘Operation Stop Cervical Cancer’ project and he is the current Chair of the Sub-Saharan African Cervical cancer Working Group.

A Fellow of the Academy of Science of Nigeria (FAS) since 2011, Prof Adewole was awarded an honourary doctorate of science from the University of Sunderland in July 2015 for his outstanding academic achievement and worthy contribution to preventive medicine and cancer screening in Nigeria.

The Federal Ministry of Health under his watch has developed one of the most ambitious health programme in Africa under universal health coverage using primary health care as the fulcrum. The programme aims to provide 10,000 functional primary healthcare facilities in Nigeria.

•Photo shows Prof Isaac Adewole.

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