Fred Binka

Binka was born in 1953 in Ghana.{{cite news | last=Therson-Cofie | first=Jessel Lartey | title=Prof Fred Newton Binka, a pillar in medical technology, research, and innovations | newspaper=Ghanaian Times | date=7 June 2023 | url=https://ghanaiantimes.com.gh/prof-fred-newton-binka-a-pillar-in-medical-technology-research-and-innovations/ | access-date=4 April 2025 |issn=0855-1502 |oclc=29011823}} He earned his medical degree (MBChB) with a focus on community health from the University of Ghana in 1978.{{cite web | last=Therson-Cofie | first=Jessel Lartey | title=Ghana: Prof Fred Newton Binka, A Pillar in Medical Technology, Research, and Innovations | website=allAfrica.com | date=8 June 2023 | url=https://allafrica.com/stories/202306080383.html | access-date=7 December 2023}} He then served as a general duty medical officer in Ho, Ghana, and Abeokuta, Nigeria, before advancing his studies in public health.{{cite web | last=Abdul-Rahaman | first=Salifu | title=An Academic and Researcher Par Excellent | website=allAfrica.com | date=28 June 2022 | url=https://allafrica.com/stories/202206280221.html | access-date=7 December 2023}} He received his Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel in 1987. He also secured a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H) from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in 1990, and a PhD in epidemiology and population sciences from the University of Basel in 1997.{{cite web | title=Malaria Consortium welcomes six new trustees | website=Malaria Consortium | date=15 October 2013 | url=https://www.malariaconsortium.org/news-centre/malaria-consortium-welcomes-six-new-trustees.htm | access-date=7 December 2023}}

Binka began his research career as an epidemiologist and led fieldwork for the Ghana Vitamin A supplementation trials, a large-scale randomised controlled trial that studied the effects of vitamin A supplementation on child mortality and morbidity.{{cite book | title=Research capacity building in developing countries | publisher=WHO | year=2003 | url=https://tdr.who.int/docs/librariesprovider10/meeting-reports/reasearch-capacity-building-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=71845b34_0&download=true | access-date=7 December 2023 | page=22}} He then joined the Navrongo Health Research Centre (NHRC) in northern Ghana as its director in 1992, where he conducted studies on malaria prevention and control, such as the evaluation of insecticide-treated bed nets, the introduction of intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women, and the assessment of the feasibility and acceptability of seasonal malaria chemoprevention.{{sfn | Curtis | Maxwell | Magesa | Rwegoshora | 2006 | pp=501–506}} He also established the Navrongo Demographic Surveillance System, which became a model for health and demographic research in Africa{{sfn | Shetty | 2008 | p=1409}} and a founding member of the International Network for the Demographic Evaluation of Populations and Their Health (INDEPTH) Network.{{cite web | title=Professor Fred Newton Binka receives prestigious Dr Pascoal Mocumbi Award | website=EDCTP | date=22 November 2016 | url=http://www.edctp.org/news/professor-fred-newton-binka-receives-prestigious-dr-pascoal-mocumbi-award/ | access-date=7 December 2023}}

In 2001, Binka became an associate professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health, University of Ghana, where he taught and supervised postgraduate students and conducted research on various topics, such as the epidemiology and burden of rotavirus and meningococcal infections, the effectiveness and safety of vaccines, and the impact of health sector reforms on malaria control.{{cite web | title=Professor Fred Binka | website=Continuous Education Services (CES) | url=https://ces.edu.gh/facilitators/view/professor-fred-binka | access-date=7 December 2023}} He also served as a public health specialist for the Ministry of Health of Ghana{{cite web | title=The Lancet Commission on malaria eradication Malaria eradication within a generation: ambitious, achievable and necessary | website=Malaria Eradication Commission | url=http://www.malariaeradicationcommission.com/sites/default/files/london-speaker-bios.pdf | access-date=7 December 2023}} and a medical officer for the Roll Back Malaria Partnership at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.{{cite web | title=London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine - Annual Report 2016 | website=www.lshtm.ac.uk | date=January 2017 | url=https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/files/annual-report-2016.pdf | access-date=7 December 2023}} He participated in international committees and initiatives related to malaria and health development, such as the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, and the Mapping Malaria Risk in Africa project.

In 2012, Binka was appointed as the inaugural vice-chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) in Ho, Ghana, where he contributed to the development of the university as an institution for health education and research. He also served as a professor of clinical epidemiology at the School of Public Health of UHAS and conducted research on malaria and other infectious diseases.{{cite web | title=Office of International Programmes | website=University of Health and Allied Sciences | url=https://www.uhas.edu.gh/en/directorates/international-programmes.html | access-date=7 December 2023}} In 2016, he transitioned from UHAS to join the WHO as the coordinator of the Emergency Response to Artemisinin Resistance in the Greater Mekong sub-region of Asia, where he was involved in efforts to address and eliminate the threat of drug-resistant malaria in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.{{cite web | title=WACCBIP RESEARCH CONFERENCE 2017 | website=waccbip.org | url=https://www.waccbip.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/WRC-2017-Booklet.pdf | access-date=7 December 2023}}

Binka has been recognised with several awards for his work in public health and malaria control.{{cite book | title=Workshop Speaker Biographies | publisher=National Academies Press (US) | date=6 May 2016 | url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK367996/ | access-date=7 December 2023}} In 2001, he received the Rudolf Geigy Award, an award given by the R. Geigy Foundation in Basel, Switzerland, for his work in science and contributions to malaria control and health development in Africa. In 2010, he was awarded the Prince Mahidol Award, an award given by the Royal Thai Government for achievements in the field of public health. He is a fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons.{{cite web | title=Varsity swears-in former Navrongo head as VC | website=INDEPTH Network | date=7 October 2016 | url=http://indepth-network.org/news-events/news/varsity-swears-former-navrongo-head-vc | access-date=7 December 2023}}{{cite web | title=AFRICA'S NEGLECTED EPIDEMIC: MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH, INTERVENTION AND POLICY FOR CHRONIC DISEASES| url=https://ncdalliance.org/sites/default/files/resource_files/Africa%27s%20Neglected%20Epidemic%20-%20British%20Academy%20Report%202010.pdf | access-date=7 December 2023}}{{cite web | title=Ghana: WHO Must Answer to GAAS - the World Health Organisation Must Respond to the Queries of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences) | url=https://allafrica.com/stories/201507031339.html | access-date=7 December 2023}}

{{Refbegin|indent=yes}}

• {{cite journal | last1=Binka | first1=F. N. | last2=Kubaje | first2=A. | last3=Adjuik | first3=M. | last4=Williams | first4=L. A. | last5=Lengeler | first5=C. | last6=Maude | first6=G. H. | last7=Armah | first7=G. E. | last8=Kajihara | first8=B. | last9=Adiamah | first9=J. H. | last10=Smith | first10=P. G. | title=Impact of permethrin impregnated bednets on child mortality in Kassena-Nankana district, Ghana: a randomized controlled trial | journal=Tropical Medicine and International Health | publisher=Wiley | volume=1 | issue=2 | year=1996 | issn=1360-2276 | doi=10.1111/j.1365-3156.1996.tb00020.x | pages=147–154| pmid=8665378 | s2cid=42246386 }}
• {{cite journal | last1=Binka | first1=F.N. | last2=Morris | first2=S.S. | last3=Ross | first3=D.A. | last4=Arthur | first4=P. | last5=Aryeetey | first5=M.E. | title=Patterns of malaria morbidity and mortality in children in northern Ghana | journal=Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene | publisher=Oxford University Press (OUP) | volume=88 | issue=4 | year=1994 | issn=0035-9203 | doi=10.1016/0035-9203(94)90391-3 | pages=381–385| pmid=7570811 }}
• {{cite journal | last1=Binka | first1=F.N. | last2=Hodgson | first2=A. | last3=Adjuik | first3=M. | last4=Smith | first4=T. | title=Mortality in a seven-and-a-half-year follow-up of a trial of insecticide-treated mosquito nets in Ghana | journal=Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene | publisher=Oxford University Press (OUP) | volume=96 | issue=6 | year=2002 | issn=0035-9203 | doi=10.1016/s0035-9203(02)90321-4 | pages=597–599| pmid=12625130 | s2cid=25294732 | url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/304101/files/96-6-597.pdf }}
• {{cite journal | last1=Binka | first1=F N | last2=Indome | first2=F | last3=Smith | first3=T | title=Impact of spatial distribution of permethrin-impregnated bed nets on child mortality in rural northern Ghana. | journal=The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene | publisher=American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene | volume=59 | issue=1 | date=1 July 1998 | issn=0002-9637 | doi=10.4269/ajtmh.1998.59.80 | pages=80–85| pmid=9684633 | s2cid=25889743 }}
• {{cite journal | last1=Binka | first1=F N | last2=Anto | first2=F. K. | last3=Oduro | first3=A. R. | last4=Awini | first4=E. A. | last5=Nazzar | first5=A. K. | last6=Armah | first6=G. E. | last7=Asmah | first7=R. H.|last8=Hall|first8=A. J.|last9=Cutts|first9=F. |last10=Alexander|first10=N.|last11=Brown|first11=D. |last12=Greenberg|first12=H. B.|last13=Rodrigues|first13=L. C.|last14=Alonso|first14=P. L.| title=Incidence and risk factors of paediatric rotavirus diarrhoea in northern Ghana | journal=Tropical Medicine and International Health | publisher=Wiley | volume=8 | issue=9 | date=28 August 2003 | issn=1360-2276 | doi=10.1046/j.1365-3156.2003.01097.x | pages=840–846 | pmid=12950670 | s2cid=27234185 }}

{{Refend}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite journal | last1=Curtis | first1=C. F. | last2=Maxwell | first2=C. A. | last3=Magesa | first3=S. M. | last4=Rwegoshora | first4=R. T. | last5=Wilkes | first5=T. J. | title=Insecticide-Treated Bed-Nets for Malaria Mosquito Control | journal=Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association | publisher=The American Mosquito Control Association | volume=22 | issue=3 | year=2006 | issn=8756-971X | doi=10.2987/8756-971x(2006)22[501:ibfmmc]2.0.co;2 | pages=501–506| pmid=17067053 | s2cid=19159835 }}
• {{cite journal | last=Shetty | first=Priya | title=Fred Binka: fighting malaria in Africa | journal=The Lancet | publisher=Elsevier BV | volume=371 | issue=9622 | year=2008 | issn=0140-6736 | doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(08)60614-5 | page=1409| pmid=18440418 | s2cid=38633474 | doi-access=free }}

• [https://sph.uhas.edu.gh/en/staff/profiles?view=project&id=102:prof-fred-newton-binka Profile at the University of Health and Allied Sciences]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Binka, Fred}}

Category:Living people

Category:1953 births

Category:Ghanaian academics

Category:University of Ghana alumni

Category:Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni

Category:Academic staff of University of Health and Allied Sciences

Category:World Health Organization officials

Category:Fellows of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences