Plenary 2
Prof. Rosamund Modupe Akuse
Until recently, Dr Akuse was a Professor of Paediatrics at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria. After graduating from the University of Ibadan, she did her residency at ABUTH and Guy’s Hospital, London, UK. She was the Head of the Department of Paediatrics at ABUTH, Kaduna and the head of the Paediatric Nephrology Unit in Zaria. She is a fellow of the Nigerian Postgraduate Medical College, the West African College of Physicians, the Royal College of Physicians (UK) and the Nigerian Association of Nephrology. She is presently the coordinator of the renal registry committee of the Paediatric Nephrology Association of Nigeria
As a member of MWAN, she has realised that MWAN members possess great and diverse talents that should be harnessed to improve the health of women (and children) in Nigeria and Africa. An important task of MWAN is to help efforts to reduce Nigeria’s high maternal mortality rate. Her late husband, Dr James Akuse, who was a former chairman of NMA Kaduna State and President of the Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (SOGON), strongly believed that this could only be achieved through multisectoral collaboration. Nevertheless, in trying to improve health outcomes for women, children, and even men, MWAN must also address healthcare financing, adaptation of technology to local conditions, development of sustainable health systems, and politics.
However, one of the most important lessons Prof Akuse has learnt is that our homes should be our priority. This needs wisdom from God, who is ever willing to teach us how to combine our various activities with the love and care an MWAN member needs to run her household successfully.