Professor Agnes Binagwaho, MD, M(Ped), PhD is a Rwandan pediatrician who returned to
Rwanda in July of 1996, two years after the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi.
Since then, she has provided clinical care in the public sector as well as held
a number of project management, health system strengthening, and government
positions. Professor Binagwaho currently resides in Kigali.
Personal Life and Education
Professor Binagwaho was born in Nyamagabe, Southern Province,
Rwanda. When she was three years old, she and her family moved to Belgium,
where her father was completing his medical degree (MD).
Professor Binagwaho completed her Medical Degree (MD) in General
Medicine at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (1976-84) and her Masters Degree
in Pediatrics (MA) at the Universite de Bretagne Occidentale (1989-93). In
2010, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science (Hon. D.Sc.) from Dartmouth
College. In 2014, she became the first person to be awarded a Doctorate of
Philosophy (PhD) from the College of Business and Economics at the University
of Rwanda. Professor Binagwaho's PhD Dissertation was titled, "Children’s
Right to Health in the Context of the HIV Epidemic: The Case of Rwanda.”
To increase her skills in health service delivery, research, and
program management, Professor Binagwaho has completed a number of academic
certificates. She earned a Certificate of Tropical Medicine from the Institute
of Tropical Medicine at Anvers, Belgium (1984-85). At the University de
Bretagne Occidentale Professor Binagwaho completed three certificates: a
Certificate in Axiology (General Emergencies) (1991-1992); a Certificate in
Pediatric Emergencies (1992-1993); and a Certificate in HIV Patient Care and
Treatment (1994-1995). She also completed a training program in AIDS prevention
and surveillance studies in Kigali, Rwanda through the World AIDS Foundation,
hosted by the University of New Mexico School of Medicine’s Health Sciences
Center (July-August 1997), a certificate in Health and Human Rights -
Dimensions and Strategies with InWEnt - Capacity Building International
(Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung gGmbH) and the World Health
Organization (November 2009-April 2010), and a Social and Behavioral Research
Investigators Certificate by the US-based organization Citi Collaborative
Institutional Training Initiative.
Awards
Professor Binagwaho received the 2015 Roux Prize and
the 2015 Ronald McDonald House Charities Award of Excellence.
Current Activities
University Leadership
In 2017, Professor Binagwaho was appointed Vice Chancellor of the
University of Global Health Equity (UGHE), an initiative of Partners In Health.
Faculty Positions
Since 2008, Professor Binagwaho has been a Senior Lecturer in the
Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She
is also a Professor of the Practice of Global Health Delivery and a Professor of Pediatrics at the University
of Global Health Equity in Rwanda as well as an Adjunct Clinical Professor of
Pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Since 2016 she is a
member of the American National Academy of medicine and since 2017 a fellow of
the African Academy of Sciences.
Professor Binagwaho’s academic engagements include research on
health equity, HIV/AIDS, information and communication technologies (ICT) in
e-health, and pediatric care delivery systems. She has published over 160
peer-reviewed articles.
Boards and Commissions
Professor Binagwaho is a Senior Advisor to the Director General of the World Health Organization, a member of the African Advisory Board of
the Steven Lewis Foundation, was member of the Advisory Board of the Friends of the Global
Fund Africa, and the Advisory Committee of the International AIDS Vaccine
Initiative.
Since 2010, Professor Binagwaho has served as a member of the
Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing
Countries. She is also a member of the Global He@lth Innovative Task Force and
sits on the editorial board of several scientific journals among them the
Journal of Health and Human Rights. Professor Binagwaho also serves on the
International Strategic Advisory Board for the Institute of Global Health
Innovation at Imperial College London. In addition, she is an Advisory
Committee Member of the Disease Control Priorities 3 (DCP3).
Professor Binagwaho serves on multiple Lancet Commissions,
including the Lancet-O'Neill Institute Georgetown University Commission on
Global Health and Law, the Harvard Global Equity Initiative - Lancet Commission
on Global Access to Pain Control and Palliative Care, the Lancet Commission for
the Future of Health in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Lancet Diabetes &
Endocrinology Commission, and the Lancet NCDI Poverty Commission: Reframing
NCDs and Injuries of the Poorest Billion.
Previous Positions
National Positions
Professor Binagwaho served as the Minister of Health of Rwanda
(May 2011- July 2016). Prior to this, she served as the Permanent
Secretary of the Ministry of Health of Rwanda (October 2008-May
2011) and as the Executive Secretary of Rwanda's National AIDS Control
Commission (2002–08).
Professor Binagwaho was the chair of the Rwandan Steering
Committee for the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
(2002-08). During that period, she was also responsible for the management of
the World Bank MAP Project in Rwanda. In addition, Professor Binagwaho served
on The Global Fund's Rwanda Country Coordinating Mechanism, first as a Member
(2002-08) and then as Chair (2008-11). Professor Binagwaho was a Member of the
Rwandan High Level Implementation Committee of the Aid Policy (2009-10).
International Positions
Professor Binagwaho has served on the editorial board of Public
Library of Science (PLOS) (2009-17); the International Advisory Board for
Lancet Global Health Journal (2013-15), the Commission Member on the Lancet
Commission on Investing in Health (2012-14), and the Lancet Commission for
Women and Health (2012-14).
Professor Binagwaho was a member of the United Nations Tracking
and Accountability Working Group (2010) and the Joint Action Plan for Women’s
and Children’s Health as a Member of the Innovation Working Group. She was also
a participant in The Global Fund's Policy and Strategy Committee (2009-10).
Professor Binagwaho co-chaired the Joint Learning Initiative on Children and
HIV/AIDS (JLICA) (2006–09) and held the position of Co-Chair of the United
Nations Task Force of the Millennium Development Goals Project for
HIV/AIDS and Access to Essential Medicines (2001-05).
Professor Binagwaho was as a member of the Steering Committee for
the Multi-Country Support Program on SSR/HIV/AIDS (2004-09) and the Advisory
Body of the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In 2004,
Professor Binagwaho was also a member of the Time magazine’s Health
Advisory Board. Professor Binagwaho served as a Founding Board Member of the
Tropical Institute of the Community Health and Development in Africa, (2002-11)
based in Kismu, Kenya.
