CommonAge Scholarship recipient Dr Alfred Yawson, Ghana
We were delighted when Dr Alfred Yawson from Ghana accepted the offer of our scholarship to join us in Perth at the IAHSA/ACSA conference, 30 August – 3 September.
Dr Alfred is a university lecturer at the Medical School and School of Public Health, University of Ghana and the consultant public health physician at Korle-Bu teaching hospital. He also is a member of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) team on Multi-country Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) and a co-principal investigator for the ongoing SAGE survey in Ghana.
As a facilitator on the national ageing policy development, Dr Alfred is involved in a nationwide data collection for SAGE Wave 2 to provide evidence-based guidance for the policy. He is also actively involved in national discourse on ageing and efforts in implementing the ageing policy.
Previous achievements include facilitating the development of a national policy document on Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat care among older adult Ghanaians at the WHO/Ministry of Health Collaborative workshop. The workshop was on a national scale-up plan for older adults in Ghana.
Dr Alfred has published over 30 scholarly articles on health, ageing and gender (older adults in Ghana and other low-to-middle income countries); HIV and AIDS; Chronic non-communicable diseases; health policy, planning, insurance and healthcare improvements in developing countries.
We are very much looking forward to benefitting from his knowledge and experiences.
According to WHO, Ghanaians are living longer. The proportion of the population older than 60 is estimated to reach 12% in 2050, from close to 7% in 2010. Ghana has one of the highest proportions of persons aged over 60 in sub-Saharan Africa.