A senior consultant paediatrician in clinical practice, based at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) in Nairobi and also the Senior Policy Advisor at the East African Regional Office of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI).
I hold a masters degree in paediatrics (M.Med, {paed}), 1980, from the University of Nairobi and bachelor’s in medicine and surgery (MB,Ch.B), 1973, from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. I also undertook a certificate course in tropical medicine at the University of Nairobi, 1976, and have attended and conducted several short courses in gender and strategic planning in health policy.

At the AKUH, I sit on two committees the i) Ethics and Research Committee and ii) the Departmental Quality Improvement/Patient Safety committee(DQIPS) and was previously a member of the iii) Pharmacy Committee that reviews and advises on all medical products before they are approved for use at the hospital.

At IAVI, I am the liaison person providing the link between IAVI and the government mainly through the ministries of Health, Foreign Affairs and of Special Programmes under which HIV/AIDS falls. I am a member of the Scientific Research Committee of the National AIDS Control Council (NACC). I also provide the linkage between IAVI and the professional medical associations.

At the national level, I have just completed my second term as a member of the University Council of one of the public Universities the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. Since 2006, I serve as a board member of the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) here in Nairobi. APHRC is a regional research body which supports post doctoral research scientists in health, population and development in Africa.

I have also served as a Director of the National Coordinating Authority Against Drug and Substance Abuse (NACADA). For over a decade now I have been an active member of the Board of Trustees of the SOS Children’s Village in Kenya.

Prior to this, I pioneered the work that culminated in the enactment of the first comprehensive Children’s Act in Kenya. This work took several years to complete. I was also a member of the national Task Force that reviewed the laws affecting women and girls in Kenya, being in charge of the health sector in the Task Force.

At the international level, I am currently on the boards of Pathfinder International (PI), International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM), Positive Action for Children’s Fund (PACF). I sit on the Advisory board of the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Health Program. I am a former board member of the Population Council and President of the Medical Women’s Association (MWIA).

Having worked all my professional life in the health and medical fields, I confess to be an ardent advocate for the health and well-being of women and children not only in Kenya but also globally.