Miriam Were

Miriam Khamadi Were (born 12 April 1940) is a Kenyan public health advocate, academic, and recipient of the first Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize. In 2022, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in public health.

Academic experience As a graduate of William Penn College, in Oskaloosa, Iowa, Were began a career with a focus on helping others. With a degree in Natural Sciences and postgraduate Diploma in Education, she taught high school chemistry and biology before medical studies.

Were qualified as a medical doctor from the University of Nairobi, and she rose to become head of the Department of Community Medicine at Nairobi's School of Medicine.

Were's studies at Johns Hopkins University led to her 1981 doctorate in Public Health, Health Planning and Management. She has applied this training and academic background to programs focused on community-based empowerment. Her work aims to help others move towards implementing creative, effective, and self-sustaining programs. Her experiences have been marshaled in encouraging community-based initiatives.

Were is the current chairperson of the National AIDS Control Council (NACC) Kenya. From a position closely associated with the Office of the President, NACC coordinates the national HIV/AIDS response in Kenya. Dr. Were is also the serving Chairperson of the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) Board. In addition, she finds time to serve on the advisory board of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC), as well as on the board of directors of Medical Assistance Programs (MAP) International (US).

Creative writing Were has also written poetry and fiction and is the author of four novels: The Boy In Between (1969), The High School Gent (1969), The Eighth Wife (1972), and Your Heart Is My Altar (1980).

Selected works 2002 – "Kakamega, Kenya: A Promising Start Derailed," in Just and Lasting Change: When Communities Own Their Futures, Daniel Taylor-Ide and Carl E. Taylor, eds. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. 1985 – "Extended Family Involvement of Urban Professional Women" (with Harriette MacAdoo), in Women in Africa and the African Diaspora, Rosalyn Terborg-Penn and Andrea Benton Rushing, eds Washington, D.C." Howard University Press.

Honours Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear (EBS), 2005 – Kenya. Légion d'honneur, Chevalier, 2008 — France. Awarded first Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize by the Japanese Government in the Medical Services category Distinguished Career Award, 2015 – William Penn University. Oskaloosa, IA. Nobel Peace Prize nomination, 2022. The Prize aims to honour individuals with outstanding achievements in combating various infectious diseases in Africa or in establishing innovative medical service systems.

The inaugural presentation ceremony and the initial laureate lectures coincided with the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which was held in Yokohama in late-April 2008. This year's conference venue was moved from Tokyo to Yokohama as another way of honouring the man after whom the prize was named. In 1899, Dr. Noguchi worked at the Yokohama Port Quarantine Office as an assistant quarantine doctor.

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda made the actual award presentation, and the Emperor and Empress were present at the 2008 ceremony, along with a large number of African heads of state.

Were was honoured in the Medical Services category; her laureate lecture topic was "Potential for Improvement in Africa's Health Through Evidence and Persistence in the Spirit of Dr. Hideyo Noguchi". The prize has been made possible through a combination of government funding and private donations.