Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon® is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Doyin Oluwole as its founding Executive Director. This week, Dr. Oluwole,...
Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon® is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Doyin Oluwole as its founding Executive Director. This week, Dr. Oluwole, MD, MRCP, FRCP (Pediatrics), takes up the task of leading the new Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon partnership to save women’s lives in the developing world. In her new role she will direct an unprecedented collaboration of public and private efforts to protect women at risk from both cancer and HIV/AIDS.
“There are so many simple things we can do to ease the burdens of HIV and cancer in the developing world when we work together,” said Dr. Eric G. Bing, Director of Global Health at the George W. Bush Institute. “Over the course of decades, Dr. Doyin Oluwole has demonstrated leadership in bringing diverse partners together to effectively combat health challenges that impact women and their families.”
In September of 2011, the George W. Bush Institute, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) established Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon. The partnership will leverage the platform and resources of PEPFAR — established under President Bush and a cornerstone of President Barack Obama’s Global Health Initiative (GHI) — and will draw from lessons learned in the significant scaling-up of access to HIV interventions in recent years.
Dr. Oluwole comes to Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon from FHI360, where she served six years as the Director of the Center for Health Policy and Capacity Development and the Project Director for the Africa’s Health in 2010 project. Heading up Africa’s Health 2010, she worked to empower African institutions and governments to plan, manage and evaluate effective and tailored health programs that address maternal, newborn and child health, family planning, nutrition, infectious diseases, health systems strengthening and gender/gender-based violence. She nurtured partnerships with a spectrum of African government, institutional and donor partners.
Prior to Africa’s Health in 2010, Dr. Oluwole spent 25 years as a public health practitioner across Africa, including 10 years at the regional level and as a Country Representative to the World Health Organization (WHO). As the former Director of the Division of Family and Reproductive Health with the WHO Regional Office for Africa (WHO/AFRO), she managed a team of more than 100 while leading the development and implementation of reproductive, women’s and maternal/newborn health strategies. Under her guidance, programs included a focus on community-based approaches.
“In the past 10 years the world saw an incredible increase in our capacity to fight HIV/AIDS at the community and individual levels in high-risk areas,” said Dr. Oluwole. “By joining forces, we can use relatively modest investment to broaden the scope of women’s care to include two cancers that deserve real attention.”
Dr. Oluwole has been widely published and regularly speaks on topics ranging from newborn health to female genital mutilation to the importance of strengthening health systems. She began her career as a pediatrician and a professor of pediatrics in her native Nigeria. She holds a Doctorate of Medicine with Honors from the University of Lagos and a Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians in pediatrics from the University of Edinburgh/Royal College of Physicians in the UK, where she is also a Fellow.
About the George W. Bush Institute:
The George W. Bush Institute seeks to improve the human condition through human freedom, education reform, global health, and economic growth. In all its programming, the Institute integrates initiatives that empower women and military servicemen and women. The Bush Institute is the innovation policy arm of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, which includes the Presidential library, located on the campus of SMU in Dallas. For more information, please visit www.bushcenter.com or follow the Institute on Facebook and Twitter.
About PEPFAR:
The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is the U.S. Government initiative to save the lives of those affected by HIV/AIDS around the world. This historic commitment is the largest by any nation to combat a single disease internationally, and PEPFAR investments also help alleviate suffering from other diseases across the global health spectrum. PEPFAR is driven by a shared responsibility among donor and partner nations and others to make smart investments to save lives. For more information about PEPFAR, visit www.PEPFAR.gov, http://twitter.com/uspepfar, orwww.facebook.com/PEPFAR
About Susan G. Komen for the Cure:
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure and Komen 3-Day for the Cure, we have invested more than $1.9 billion to fulfill our promise, becoming the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world. For more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, breast health or breast cancer, visit komen.org or call 1-877 GO KOMEN.
About UNAIDS:
UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, is an innovative United Nations partnership that leads and inspires the world in achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. For more information visit: www.unaids.org
Contact:
Hannah Abney
202-271-3456
Michael Dorff
512-897-0986
