About Professor Ransome-Kuti
Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti was a Minister of Health in Nigeria from 1985 to 1993. As a Minister, he provided a foothold for the institutionalization of primary health care. After his tenure in the ministry, he went to Washington DC to work for the World Bank, where he chaired the Better Health for Africa Panel, a position where he was able to expand the concept of primary health care to other parts of Africa. Indeed, he produced a blueprint for adopting primary health care for Africa, and for sustaining health care in Africa for years to come. The scope of Professor Ransome-Kuti’s actions signifies his deep commitment to primary care in areas of health most critical to sub-Saharan Africa: He ensured exclusive breast feeding practice in Nigerian hospitals, made compulsory the recording of maternal deaths, fought for the interests of pregnant women, and pioneered effective HIV and AIDS campaign in the early years of the disease.
Establishment of the RPLD Program
After the demise of Professor Ransome-Kuti in 2003, the Women’s Health and Action Research Center (WHARC) established the Ransome-Kuti Policy and Leadership Development (RPLD) Program in 2006. The goal of the program is to stimulate the development of effective policies and the right kind of leadership for the implementation of reproductive health and primary health care in sub-Saharan Africa. The Ford Foundation provided initial funding in 2006 which was used in providing postgraduate fellowships, and several research grants in the area of reproductive health and primary health care. The funding also facilitated the establishment of structures for the launch of a Trust Fund to sustain the program beyond the initial funding by the Ford Foundation.
The RPLD Program was established to sustain in perpetuity, the legacies of Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti in primary health care and reproductive health. Specifically, the RPLD program’s interest lies in facilitating progress in areas of primary health care, safe motherhood, child survival and HIV and AIDS. While it is true that no one will fill Professor Ransome-Kuti’s shoes, the program hopes to continue along the path he pioneered by promoting responsible policy and encouraging passionate leadership in primary health care and reproductive health.
Subprograms : The RPLD Program is made up of three subprograms: The Ransome-Kuti graduate fellowship program, the Ransome-Kuti research competition and the annual Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti memorial lecture
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The annual memorial lecture was initiated as an international policy dialogue, in which policy makers and stake holders in the core areas of the program are invited to deliver lectures on contemporary issues. The 1st annual international policy dialogue was delivered by Professor Adetokunbo Lucas. The topic of the lecture was ‘Primary Care versus Primary Health Care: Clarifying the confusion and resolving the conflict’. The event held on June 1, 2006 at Abuja. The 2nd lecture which held on May 3, 2007 was delivered by Professor Fredrick Torgbor Sai, Advisor to the President of Ghana on Reproductive health, population and HIV/AIDS. The topic of the lecture was ‘Why should Africa’s women continue crying out for life?’ The 3rd lecture was delivered by Professor Babatunde Osotimehin on June 2, 2008. The topic of the lecture was ‘the control of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria: The journey so far’. The 4th memorial lecture which held on June 2, 2009 was delivered by Professor Wole Soyinka. He spoke on the topic ‘Ethics, Bioethics and Environment in healing designs’. Copies of the lectures are available at the Center: contact us to book a copy.
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The Graduate fellowship is awarded annually to support promising students as they work towards earning a degree in Public Health. The sum of 20,000 USD each is awarded for this purpose. In 2006, the award recipients were; Dr. (Mrs.) Titilayo Abiona and Dr. Muhammad Saddiq. 2007 recipients were; Mrs. Nnenna Anikpe-Okorie, Miss Ndidiamaka Umeuzuegbu, and Dr. Regina Dim.
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The Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti Research Competition: The objective of this subprogram is to promote research in the core areas for which Professor Ransome-Kuti made a mark during his lifetime. These include child survival, primary health care, sexual and reproductive health, especially HIV/AIDS and safe motherhood. The sum of 5,000USD is awarded for this purpose. 2006 recipients are Dr. (Mrs.) Asia Kassim Hussein (Tanzania) and Prof (Mrs.) Abigail Imogie (Nigeria). In 2007, Dr. (Mrs.) Rosemary Ogu, Dr. (Mrs.) Zainab Bello, and Dr. Michael Okobia won the grant award.
Achievements : The RPLD Program has received concentrated mention and accolades in the Nigerian media. One immediate benefit of the program is the increased policy attention now being given to primary health care in Nigeria. The last administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo accorded increased pre-eminence to primary health care towards the end of his tenure. An evidence of this is the expansion of the mandate of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), to include childhood immunization and the merging of the National Program on Immunization to NPHCDA. The present administration of Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has continued in this policy trust.
The Professor Ransome-Kuti Trust fund : This was established and registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria, in order to sustain the RPLD Program in perpetuity. The Ford Foundation provided initial funding for the program which ended in 2008; they also provided a support grant for the establishment of structures for the Trust Fund. The Fund was launched on March 17, 2009 and re-launched on the 2nd of June, 2009. The Fund is managed by a committee headed by Dr. Abel Guobadia, former INEC Chairman. Other members of the committee include Professor FE Okonofua (Secretary), Dr. Dotun Ransome-Kuti (Vice Chairman), Mr. Bright Ekweremadu (member), and Mrs. Beatrice Eluaka (Member).
WHARC acknowledges the donations of various individuals and corporate bodies to the Trust Fund