It was a scorching afternoon in April and in one of the rooms at the plush Holiday Inn near the airport in Accra. The scene was joyful: it was a gathering of friends and well wishers of Professor Fred Newton Binka, Dean of the School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon.

The purpose of the gathering was simple: to celebrate Prof Binka who has been awarded the Ronald Ross Medal for his contribution to research on a wide range of diseases in the tropics and the British Medical Journal's Research Paper of the Year Award for 2010.

Prof Geoffrey Targett and Prof. Binka

For the people gathered in the hotel and indeed for the whole of Ghana, there was a cause to celebrate because this was the first time someone from a developing country has received the award.

Prof Binka was awarded the medal together with Prof Geoffrey Targett of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The Ronald Ross Medal was instituted in 1997 by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The medal was set up to commemorate the centenary of Ross' discovery of the transmission of malaria by the mosquito.

On August 20, 1897, Sir Ronald Ross made the momentous discovery of the malaria parasite in the female anopheline mosquito thus demonstrating that the mosquito was the carrier of malaria. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1902.

The show of admiration and friendship that speaker after speaker showed as they spoke fondly of Prof Binka was heart-warming, refreshing and revealing.

One theme that run through the speeches was that Prof Binka was an inspirational leader, goal getter, kind and one who is able to groom and nurture people to take up responsible positions.

For Dr Constance Bart Plange, her position as Ghana's Manager of the National Malaria Control Programme was through the instrumentality of Prof Binka.

The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Elias Sory said the Service was proud of Prof Binka's achievements and encouraged other scientists to emulate his example.
The Executive Director of INDEPTH Network, Dr Osman Sankoh in congratulating Prof Binka said his achievement has again put the INDEPTH Network on the world map.

Prof Binka with his award

In an article published in the Daily Graphic titled “Mosquito assassin”, Dr Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey of the Ghana Medical Association, wrote: “Prof. Binka is clearly a transformational leader, having amply demonstrated in over thirty years of professional life, a knack for great pioneering leadership, excellence in overcoming challenges encountered and in the process leaving a rich lasting legacy.

Perhaps more significantly, he has shown the will and ability to create room and raise other leaders after him while he thirsts further afield after fresher conquests.”

An elated Pro.f Binka in his usual humble self said: “I feel honoured and excited by this award, especially because it is named after Ronald Ross and my work over the years in malaria epidemiology has been recognized”.

The tall citation accompanying the award said at a relatively young age, Prof Binka established himself as one of the leading health research scientists in Africa and he has an extraordinary distinguished record of research and service to public health.

According to the citation Prof Binka gained international prominence when he was recruited to be the Epidemiologist and Head of Field Work for a major trial in northern Ghana to assess the impact that regular supplementation with vitamin A would have on child mortality.

“The results of the trial were striking and of global significance, showing that vitamin A supplementation produced a 20 per cent reduction in the all-cause child death rate,” the citation said.

It continued “the results of the trial were highly influential in determining recommendations on vitamin A supplementation globally. Secondly, the excellence of the conduct of this large and complicated trial in a relatively remote location in Ghana, established Fred's reputation as a field trial investigator.

Prof. Binka's first activity upon assuming the leadership of the Navrongo Health Research Centre was to conduct one of the key trials showing that insecticide-impregnated bednets reduced all-cause mortality by 20 per cent. This together with a small number of similar trials conducted elsewhere has been key to the incorporation of bednet distribution as a major malaria control strategy in Accra.

Prof Binka spent 1998 to 2000 working in Geneva with the then newly created Roll Back Malaria Programme and was a member of the core team that developed the vision for the programme.

Despite requests to stay on with the Programme in Geneva, he saw his major contribution as a scientist based in Africa and returned to Ghana in 2000.

Recognising the lack of clinical trial capacity in Africa, Prof Binka was the main force behind the setting up of the Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance (MCTA) of which he is currently the Executive Director.

The MCTA is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and it is strengthening the capacity of centres in Africa to conduct trials of malaria treatment and vaccines.

More recently, Prof Binka has championed the setting up of the INDEPTH Effectiveness and Safety Studies (INESS) project to assess the effectiveness and safety of new anti-malarials as they are introduced into African countries.

For a man who has selflessly contributed to improve public health in Ghana and other countries, Dr Sodzi-Tettey's concluding paragraph to his article which reads “next time anyone is giving any national honours, I suggest they remember one nomination that is truly deserving; that of Fred Newton Binka, the veritable mosquito assassin” is well said.