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AMREF Receives 2005 Gates Award

At the 32nd annual Global Health Council conference awards banquet on June 2, the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) became the first African organization to receive the Gates Award for Global Health. Established to recognize an organization that has made a major and lasting contribution to the field of global health, the Gates Award carries a $1 million honorarium. Bill Gates, Sr, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, described AMREF as "an authentic voice of Africa," that "speaks out especially on behalf of those who are most vulnerable – women and children, the sick and the poor."

AMREF is an independent nonprofit, nongovernmental organization (NGO) that was founded in 1957. Its headquarters are in Nairobi, Kenya, with field offices in Ethiopia and Mozambique, and major projects in Rwanda, Somalia and southern Sudan.

Working toward its mission to improve the health of disadvantaged people in Africa as a means for them to escape poverty and improve the quality of their lives, AMREF focuses on six priority areas for intervention: HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, malaria, safe water and environmental sanitation, family health, clinical outreach, disaster management and emergency and response, and training and development of health learning materials.

In her acceptance speech Miriam Were, chair of the AMREF International Board, said, "Underlying Africa's development challenges are dehumanizing levels of poverty that seem almost intractable due to various reasons that I believe this distinguished audience is familiar with. Such extreme poverty goes hand in hand with a huge burden of disease that further entrenches the lives of the people into deeper levels of poverty."

As Gates acknowledged, "Being the voice of Africa is a daunting assignment...because Africa is many nations and many cultures. It is also sometimes difficult to overcome erroneous assumptions that exist about Africa – assumptions that underestimate the African people and their potential." He also noted that 97 percent of AMREF’s staff is African.

"Extraordinary challenges call for extraordinary efforts," said Dr. Nils Daulaire, president and CEO of the Global Health Council. "Over its half century of operations, AMREF has shown that dedication and a commitment to evidence-based health care can truly make a difference in the health of Africans. Their work has been an inspiration to the global health community. They have shown that indigenous solutions based on international science can address the toughest problems in the world, and serve as a beacon for Africa and for the world."

In expressing her gratitude to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Were said, "Funds made available from the Gates Award for Global Health will enable AMREF to work on a systematic look at the interface between community-based health care and formal health systems and, based on the evidence that AMREF collects, to propose changes to policies and practice so that the disadvantaged communities can truly escape poverty."

Speaking of challenges for the future, Were continued, "Let future historians record that this was the century when all of us worked together as members of one family: the family of the human race; a family whose various members stopped the tradition of passing the buck and even blaming the victims. We in Africa invite the world to work with us in the spirit of true sisterhood and brotherhood. We are fully engaged and pledge to continue to do everything possible to be reliable partners in the improvement of the life of our people and other peoples across the globe."

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