AN adviser for Oxford-based charity Oxfam has welcomed the fact Aids sufferers are receiving greater access to the right drugs.
But Mohga Kamal-Yanni, 54, said there was still a long way to go before she could be satisfied with the progress being made in healthcare in developing countries.
Dr Kamal-Yanni, from Marston, has been the charity’s senior health and HIV policy adviser for the past 14 years and has devoted her life to improving access to health care for poor people throughout the world.
In this month’s Queen’s Birthday Honours list, she was awarded the MBE for her work with Oxfam.
The mother-of-one, who lives with her daughter Emily, 23, said: “I’m very pleased to get this recognition, which recognises not just my work but the work of all my colleagues at Oxfam and the work the charity does.
“I feel it’s an honour not just for me, but also for my parents who are sadly no longer alive.”
Dr Kamal-Yanni left Egypt for a clinical attachment in England in the early 1980s.
In the early 1990s, she joined Oxfam and has worked tirelessly on behalf of the sick in poor and developing countries.
She added: “My role has been to try to ensure that people have access to health care when they need it, including access to medicines.
“At times, in certain countries it is difficult because the prices of medicines are too high and you can only get them if you are very rich.
“We lobby the drug companies to reduce their prices — seven years ago HIV drugs came to about $10,000 per patient per year.
“When we talked about the treatment of individuals, governments would say ‘are you mad — it’s not possible’.
“But now, due to competition between different drug companies, the prices have fallen significantly and it now costs under $100 for HIV drugs per patient per year, – and there are now four million people receiving treatment in developing countries.”
Dr Kamal-Yanni and her colleagues are trying to maintain pressure on governments — particularly those in Africa — to commit more public funding to health.
Two years ago, she urged African countries to commit 16 per cent of their annual budgets to health instead of five per cent.
This, combined with the $50m promised by the G8 nations in 2005, would have a huge impact on health and education, particularly in Africa, Dr Kamal-Yanni said.
In 2007, she told CNN her dream in life was “for everybody in Africa to have access to a publicly-financed, publicly-run healthcare service with strong regulation, quality, care and equity”.
Phil Bloomer, Oxfam's director of campaigns and policy, said: "We are really proud of Mohga and this recognition of all the amazing work she’s done. Mohga has worked tirelessly at the highest levels to ensure poor people can get the medicines they need.”
affrench@oxfordmail.co.uk
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