December 3, 2009, Chapel Hill, NC—To honor 30 years of supporting health workers, IntraHealth International has created a named award for a long-serving employee, Pauline Wambui Muhuhu. President and CEO Pape Gaye presented the inaugural Pauline Muhuhu Leadership Award, with a small cash prize, during a ceremony at the non-profit’s North Carolina headquarters this week.

With the annual award, IntraHealth seeks to recognize health workers who dedicate their careers to supporting primary providers in underserved regions of the world. IntraHealth will create a formal review panel to receive nominations and select future recipients. “We know there are other global health awards out there. However, we see this award as filling a unique niche, with a grand vision that it will grow in meaning over time,” says Gaye.

“At IntraHealth, we passionately believe an appropriately trained, highly motivated, fairly paid health worker is at the center of any health program or functioning health system,” explains Rebecca Kohler, vice president of external affairs. “This award recognizes public health professionals who help fulfill a promise to the communities we serve—because health workers save lives.”

A masters-level nurse-midwife from Kenya, Muhuhu joined IntraHealth in 1981. She has trained thousands of nurse-midwives in lifesaving family health practices, altered policy and professionalized the delivery of primary health care across East and Southern Africa. She is currently Senior Best Practices Advisor on the US Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Extending Service Delivery Project, where she documents and disseminates proven approaches in reproductive health and family planning.

“For the past three decades, Pauline has inspired, mentored, and challenged countless IntraHealth staff members, colleagues, and partners to live up to commitments of health for all—health care that is high quality, accessible, affordable, and sustainable,” says friend and colleague, Maureen Corbett, IntraHealth’s vice president of programs.

Learn more about Muhuhu, including how she expanded access to lifesaving postabortion care services in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and the Muhuhu Award.

IntraHealth International is a global health nonprofit that champions the critical role of health workers in health and development. For over 30 years, IntraHealth has empowered health workers to better serve communities in need, fostering local solutions to health care challenges by improving health worker performance, strengthening health systems, harnessing technology, and leveraging partnerships. The nonprofit’s work is supported and funded by the US Agency for International Development, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, private foundations, corporations and individuals.

Contact: Laura Hoemeke
IntraHealth International
+1 919-360-7799