Okechukwu Ohanyido

Francis Ohanyido Bio From NigerianWiki Born in the North-Central city of Jos after the Nigerian -Biafran Civil War of Ufuma heritage is probably one of Nigeria's remarkable figures of his generation. He has carved a niche for himself as multi-layered intellectual (Poet, Essayist, Painter, Scientist) and Social Advocate. Description

Born in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria

Occupation Author ,Physician and project manager

Nationality Nigerian

Notable award(s) St. Piran’s Prize in Poetry, Jos -1996 Contents 1 Biography 2 Technology Sans Frontières 3 Global Health 4 Afriquest Initiative and the Neo-African Renaissance 5 Advocating for Social Change 6 Affiliations 7 Fellowships 7.1 Trivia 7.2 Biographic Loci 8 References 9 Online Biographies 9.1 Directories 9.2 Quotes 9.3 Essays 9.4 Neologism Biography Francis obtained his first degree in Medicine & Surgery (MB, BS) from University of Jos in Nigeria. He continued with post-graduate trainings at Imo State University and Ahmadu Bello University (Zaria) in Health service administration and Public health respectively. Later as a continuing education alumnus of Harvard Medical School, he studied fundamentals of HIV management for the primary care provider. He also had opportunity to study health planning with the American University of Armenia. He is notable for having helped to develop the concept of Rights-Based Approach to healthcare delivery in Nigerian medical circles. Through a seminal essay in 2002 on his thoughts on governance and electoral processes in Nigeria, he had the Opportunity of working on health-related legislative policies as Legislative intern and Advisor with Senate Committee on Health under a tripartite partnership involving the National Assembly of Nigeria (NAss), Constitutional Rights Project (CRP) and National Democratic Institute of America for International Affairs (NDI). This was a part strategic institutional capacity building framework to support Nigeria's most recent attempt at a sustainable democracy. Most of his works were on health policies & laws as well as gender analysis. His position offered him an advocacy platform to engage lawmakers in the upper and lower chambers (Senate and House of Representatives) to highlight the problems around reproductive health and need to fast-track all laws relating to achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). His effort was noted with a letter of commendation by the Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria. He has been a strong advocate for the exploration of the local and global potentials of Public-Private Partnerships for Health , commonly referred to as PPP or PPPH. He has advocated for these partnerships as a paradigm shift for low-resource settings like his home nation Nigeria with a rapidly growing population and increasingly poor health indices. He felt that governments at all levels, needed to as a matter of urgency , develop platforms with the private sector so as to leverage capacities externally and internally to face the challenges of meeting up with the MDGs. Technology Sans Frontières In 2003, as a result of the strong need to bridge the digital divide in healthcare in low-income settings like his home nation, coupled with his studies in computer applications in healthcare in University of Jos (CCA), he set up the web-based Nigerian Telemedicine Development Alliance (NTDA). This body was to serve as a fulcrum for online outreach and advocacy for telemedicine infrastructure in Nigeria and the rest of Africa. He has theorised on models for the possible cost-effective delivery of Telemedicine in Nigeria. This singular effort by NTDA and other associates led to the development of strong interest on the part of the Federal Government of Nigeria to consider further studies and possible approaches to deployment of e-Health structures.He is presently a board member and Deputy Secretary General of the Society for telemedicine and eHealth in Nigeria (SFTeHIN). He has advocated to Nigeria and other countries in the low resource bracket to start thinking strategically ahead on smart investments in basic information and communications technologies (ICTs) to support their educational and health systems which can lead to a turnaround in global capacity to help solve mankind’s growing problems. Please see [url=http://nigerianwiki.com/wiki/Francis_Ohanyido]http://nigerianwiki.com/wiki/Francis_Ohanyido