who is Agnes Binagwaho?

Agnes Binagwaho, MD, M(Ped), is a Rwandan pediatrician and serves as Minister of Health of Rwanda. From October 2008 to May 2011, she served as the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health of Rwanda.Dr. Binagwaho currently resides in Kigali, Rwanda.

                                                     Dr Binagwaho,currrent minister of health

Current Activities

Dr. Binagwaho is currently Senior Lecturer in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine in Harvard Medical School. She chairs the Rwanda Country Coordinating Mechanism of The Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. Dr. Binagwaho is the co-chair of the Salzburg Global Seminar “Innovating for Value in Health Care Delivery: better cross-border learning, smarter adaptation and adoption.” She is a member of the Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing Countries. Dr. Binagwaho also serves on the Health Advisory Board for Time Magazine; and on the International Strategic Advisory Board for the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London.

Previous Positions

From 2002-2008, Dr. Binagwaho was Executive Secretary of Rwanda's National AIDS Control Commission.During that period she has served as the Chair of the Rwandan Steering Committee for the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief was responsible for the management of the World Bank MAP Project in Rwanda; served on the country’s High Commission on Aid Policy; co-coordinated the United NationsTask Force of Millennium Development GoalsProject for HIV/AIDS and Access to Essential Medicines under the leadership of Jeffrey Sachs, for the Secretary General of the United Nations ; and, from 2006–2009, co-chaired the Joint Learning Initiative on Children and HIV/AIDS,an independent alliance of researchers, implementers, policy makers, activists, and people living with HIV.

Medical Career

Dr. Binagwaho obtained her medical training in Belgium and France and specialized in emergency pediatrics, neonatology, and the treatment of HIV/AIDS in children and adults. She serves as a member of several boards, foundations, and journals combating AIDS and infant mortality, including the African Advisory Board of the Steven Lewis Foundation, the advisory board of the Friends of the Global Fund Africaand the advisory committee of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, the editorial board of Journal of Health and Human Rights,the editorial board for the Public Library of Science. Dr. Binagwaho served as member of the steering committee for the Multi-Country Support Program on SSR/HIV/AIDS, an advisory body of the Royal Tropical Institute of Amsterdam, Netherlands. She is also a founding board member of the Tropical Institute of the Community Health and Development in Africa, based in Kismu, Kenya.

Twitter/SMS Discussions: Mondays with the Minister

In October 2011, Dr. Binagwaho launched a series of online discussions through Twitter around topics related to global health policy and Rwanda’s national health sector. Twitter users from around Rwanda and around the world have joined Dr. Binagwaho in three discussions (as of December 2011) about family planning policy in Africa, building a national health sector, and malnutrition in Rwanda. In December 2011, Dr. Binagwaho partnered with the Rwandan-American ICT company Nyaruka to allow Rwandans to contribute questions and comments to Mondays with the Minister discussions via SMS.

 Research and Activism

Dr. Binagwaho is focused on research in the intersection of health and social and political sciences. Her studies and publications aim to improve access to prevention, care and treatment for HIV/AIDS and other diseases. She actively fights for children’s rights and promotes gender equity in Rwanda and around the world. She is at the vanguard in the fight against HIV/AIDS, striving to find effective methodologies to advance interventions to diminish and eliminate the burden of the disease.

 Publications

Dr. Binagwaho has written numerous articles and presentations for international conferences and journals on pediatrics, HIV/AIDS and program management.

• Knaul, Felicia Marie, Frenk, Julio and Shulman, Lawrence for the Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing Countries. Closing the Cancer Divide: A Blueprint to Expand Access in Low and Middle Income Countries. Harvard Global Equity Initiative, Boston, MA, November 2011. [Chapter contributions by Binagwaho A]
• Binagwaho A. (In Press) Response to Letter titled “Minimally Invasive Male Circumcision” by Sokal et al. JAIDS. 2011.
• Binagwaho A, Agbonyitor M, Rukundo A, Ratnayake N, Ngabo F, Kayumba J, Dowdle B, Chopyak E and Smith Fawzi MC. (In Press) Underdiagnosis of Malnutrition in Infants and Young Children in Rwanda: Implications for Attainment of the Millennium Development Goal to End Poverty and Hunger. International Journal for Equity in Health. 2011.
• Rich M, Miller AC, Niyigena P, Franke MF, Niyonzima JB, Socci A, Drobac P, Hakizamungu M, Mayfield A, Ruhayisha R, Epino H, Stulac S, Cancedda C, Karamaga A, Nyinonzima S, Yarbrough C, Fleming J, Amoroso C, Mukherjee J, Murray M, Farmer PE, Binagwaho A. (In Press) Excellent clinical outcomes and high retention in care among adults in a community-based HIV treatment program in rural Rwanda. JAIDS. 2011.
• Binagwaho A, Fuller A, Dougherty S, Agbonyitor M, Kerry VB, Wagner CM, Nzayizera R, Farmer PE. (In Press) Adolescents and the Right to Health: Eliminating Age-Related Barriers to HIV/AIDS Services in Rwanda. AIDS Care. 2011.
• Binagwaho A, Wagner CM, Nutt CT. HPV Vaccine in Rwanda: Different Disease, Same Double Standard. The Lancet 2011 378(9807):1916
• Binagwaho A, Fuller A, Dougherty S, Agbonyitor M, Kerry VB, Wagner CM, Ingabire N, Farmer PE. (In Press) A Question of Maturity: The Participation, Decision-making and Rights of Children in the Context of HIV/AIDS. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies. 2011.
• Bitega, Jean Paul MD, MMed (Surgery); Ngeruka, Muyenzi Leon MD, Surgeon; Hategekimana, Theobald MD; Asiimwe, Anita MD, MPH; Binagwaho, Agnes MD, PhD. Safety and Efficacy of the PrePex(TM) Device for Rapid Scale up of Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention in Resource-Limited Settings. JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. 2011.
• Mugwaneza P, Umutoni Wa Shema N, Ruton H, Rukundo A, Lyambabaje A, Bizimana JDD, Tsague L, Wagner CM, Nyankesha E, Muita J, Mutabazi V, Nyemazi JP, Nsanzimana S, Karema C, Binagwaho A,. Under-two child mortality according to maternal HIV status in Rwanda: assessing outcomes within the National PMTCT Program. Pan African Medical Journal. 2011; 37(9).
• Cohen, MH, Shi Q, Fabri M, Mukanyonga H, Cai X, Hoover DR, Binagwaho A, and Anastos K. Improvement in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Postconflict Rwandan Women. JOURNAL OF WOMEN’S HEALTH. 2011; 20(9):1325-1332.
• Basinga P, Gertler PJ, Binagwaho A, Soucat AL, Sturdy J, Vermeersch CM. Effect on maternal and child health services in Rwanda of payment to primary health-care providers for performance: an impact evaluation. Lancet. 2011 Apr 23; 377(9775):1421-8.
• Wyatt CM, Shi Q, Novak JE, Hoover DR, Szczech L, Mugabo JS, Binagwaho A, Cohen M, Mutimura E, Anastos K. Prevalence of Kidney Disease in HIV-Infected and Uninfected Rwandan Women. PLoS One. 2011; 6(3):e18352.
• Chapman J, Koleros A, Delmont Y, Pegurri E, Gahire R, Binagwaho A. High HIV risk behavior among men who have sex with men in Kigali, Rwanda: making the case for supportive prevention policy. AIDS Care. 2011 Jan 24; 1-7.
• Franke MF, Stulac SN, Rugira IH, Rich ML, Bucyibaruta JB, Drobac PC, Iyamungu G, Bryant CM, Binagwaho A, Farmer PE, Mukherjee JS. High Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Free Survival of Infants Born to Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Mothers in an Integrated Program to Decrease Child Mortality in Rural Rwanda. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2011 July; 30(7), 614-616.
• Binagwaho A, Agbonyitor M, Mwananawe A, Mugwaneza P, Irwin A, Karema C. Developing human rights-based strategies to improve health among female sex workers in Rwanda. Health Hum Rights. 2010; 12(2):89-100.
• Binagwaho A, Ngabo G, Agbonyitor M, Wagner CM, Redditt V, Drobac P, Murekatete I, Ribakare M, Karema C. Determinants of Adherence to Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy among HIV-Infected Children in Rwanda. Rwanda Medical Journal. 2010; 3(68):32-39.
• Lim Y, Kim JY, Rich M, Stulac S, Niyonzima JB, Smith Fawzi MC, Gahire R, Mukaminega M, Getchell M, Peterson CW, Farmer PE, Binagwaho A. Improving Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV Care and Related Services in Eastern Rwanda. PLoS Med. 2010; 7(7):e1000302.
• Binagwaho A, Ratnayake N, Mukherjee J, Mugabo J, Karita E, Pegurri E. When one can infect two: a reflection on the impact of HIV discordance on child HIV infection. Pan Afr Med J. 2010; 5:10.
• Mutimura E, Anastos K, Lin Z, Cohen M, Binagwaho A, Kotler DP. Effect of HIV Infection on Body Composition and Fat Distribution in Rwandan Women. J Int Assoc Physicians AIDS Care (Chic Ill). 2010 May-Jun; 9(3):173-8.
• Price J, Binagwaho A. From medical rationing to rationalizing the use of human resources for AIDS care and treatment in Africa: a case for task shifting. Dev World Bioeth. 2010 Aug; 10(2):99-103.
• Binagwaho A, Pegurri E, Muita J, Bertozzi S. Male circumcision at different ages in rwanda: a cost-effectiveness study. PLoS Med. 2010; 7(1):e1000211.
• Binagwaho A. "Whose Responsibility Is This Anyway?" in: What can be done to meet the needs of children affected by AIDS. Oxford University Press. 2010.
• Cohen MH, Fabri M, Cai X, Shi Q, Hoover DR, Binagwaho A, Culhane MA, Mukanyonga H, Karegeya DK, Anastos K. Prevalence and predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression in HIV-infected and at-risk Rwandan women. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2009 Nov; 18(11):1783-91.
• Shumbusho F, van Griensven J, Lowrance D, Turate I, Weaver MA, Price J, Binagwaho A. Task shifting for scale-up of HIV care: evaluation of nurse-centered antiretroviral treatment at rural health centers in Rwanda. PLoS Med. 2009 Oct; 6(10):e1000163.
• Lazar JM, Wu X, Shi Q, Kagame A, Cohen M, Binagwaho A, Munyakazi L, Salciccioli L, Shi D, Anastos K. Arterial wave reflection in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected Rwandan women. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2009 Sep; 25(9):877-82.
• Binagwaho A, Fawzi MC, Drobac P, Franke M, Ivers L, Kim JY, Mukherjee J, Noguchi J, Rich M, Stulac S, Farmer P. HIV, infant feeding and implementation failure: advancing policies for women with HIV infection and attaining the Millennium Development Goals. Bull World Health Organ. 2009 Aug; 87(8):A-B; author reply B-C.
• Price JE, Leslie JA, Welsh M, Binagwaho A. Integrating HIV clinical services into primary health care in Rwanda: a measure of quantitative effects. AIDS Care. 2009 May; 21(5):608-14.
• Binagwaho A, Ratnayake N. The role of social capital in successful adherence to antiretroviral therapy in Africa. PLoS Med. 2009 Jan 27; 6(1):e18.
• Binagwaho A, Ratnayake N, Fawzi MC. Health and Human Rights. Holding multilateral organizations accountable: the failure of who in regards to childhood malnutrition. 2009; 10(2).
• Binagwaho A. The right of children in developing countries to be born and live HIV-free. Health Hum Rights. 2008; 10(1):149-52.
• Bell P, Binagwaho A. The joint learning initiative on children and HIV/AIDS. Lancet. 2006 Nov 25; 368(9550):1850-1.
• Spence D, Merriman A, Binagwaho A. Palliative care in Africa and the Caribbean. PLoS Med. 2004 Oct; 1(1):e5.
• Binagwaho A et al. Rwanda Medical Journal. HIV infection among African children. 1998; 62(29).
• J. Sizun, A. Karangwa (spouse name of A. Binagwaho), et al. Intensive Care Med. Malassezia furfur-related colonisation and infection of central venous catheters. 1994; (20):496-99.

source: wikipedia.com