EWAH honours extraordinary women, pushes for health leadership equity

…As Jack-Rich, NAFDAC DG, Ndili, Adebakin, others win 2026 Awards

The 2026 edition of the Extraordinary Women Advancing Healthcare (EWAH) Awards has renewed calls for greater gender equity in healthcare leadership, with stakeholders lamenting that although women constitute more than two-thirds of the global health workforce, they remain grossly underrepresented in leadership and decision-making positions.

Held in Lagos, the third edition brought together policymakers, healthcare professionals, regulators, development partners and industry leaders to celebrate women transforming healthcare across Africa.

Organised by the LiveWell Initiative (LWI) and the Sustainability Centre of the Global Public Health University (GPHU) in collaboration with Innovara Inc., USA, and the EWAH Nigeria Board, the event also reinforced calls for greater female representation in healthcare leadership.

Delivering the opening address, the Regional Representative of EWAH Africa, Dr Bisi Bright, said the initiative was established not only to recognise exceptional women making measurable contributions to healthcare but also to spotlight the persistent leadership gap within the sector.

According to her, women account for more than 67.7 per cent of the global healthcare workforce but occupy only a fraction of leadership positions despite being the backbone of healthcare delivery.

She described the imbalance as a structural challenge requiring deliberate intervention, explaining that EWAH recognises women with what it describes as a “miles-to-go mindset”—leaders whose recognition marks the beginning of even greater service and impact.

She explained that the selection process is anchored on a four-layer assessment system involving international benchmarking, public opinion, stakeholder review and final board adjudication to ensure transparency and credibility. According to her, additional scrutiny is also applied to politically exposed persons and exceptionally qualified nominees to safeguard the integrity of the awards.

In her welcome address, Chairman of the EWAH Advisory Board, Clare Omatseye, described the awards as a growing continental movement committed to strengthening healthcare systems through inclusive leadership.

She stressed that healthcare leadership must remain people-centred, noting that every policy and investment ultimately affects patients and communities.

Omatseye called for stronger collaboration between men and women in leadership, warning that excluding women from decision-making weakens health systems.

Goodwill messages were delivered on behalf of the EWAH Matron and Chairman of May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Senator Daisy Ehanire Danjuma, and EWAH Patron Stanley Evans, both of whom commended the organisers for sustaining a platform that recognises women’s contributions to strengthening healthcare systems.

The Global Matron and Founder Emeritus of EWAH, Prof. Barri M. Blauvelt, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Innovara Inc., USA, also addressed participants, highlighting the importance of sustained investment in women-led healthcare leadership.

Representing the Chairman of the occasion, Senator Danjuma, the Managing Director of May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Pharm. Patrick Ajah, described women as indispensable to leadership excellence, institutional growth and national development. He said Senator Danjuma remains a model of visionary leadership, disciplined service and corporate governance.

The awards recognised outstanding women across healthcare leadership, innovation, regulation, media, philanthropy and community health systems strengthening.

Among the recipients was Dr Elizabeth Jack-Rich, Founder of Elin Group Limited, honoured for her healthcare, educational and humanitarian interventions through the Elizabeth Jack-Rich Aid Foundation (EJRIAF).

Dr Pamela Jackson-Ajayi, Founder of Pathcare/SYNLAB Nigeria and Chairman of The Bridge Clinic, was recognised for advancing diagnostic and fertility care, while NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, received honours for strengthening pharmaceutical regulation and medicine safety in Nigeria.

Dr Njide Ndili was recognised for advancing healthcare financing, digital health and universal health coverage, while Pharm. Abimbola Adebakin was honoured for leveraging technology to improve access to medicines and pharmaceutical distribution.

Other recipients included Osayi Alile for philanthropy and public health initiatives, Adenike Fasawe for innovative grassroots immunisation programmes in Ondo State, Angela Emuwa for media advocacy and expanding healthcare access to underserved communities, Dr Oluwatomi Kogo for preventive healthcare and lifestyle medicine, and Vivianne Ihekweazu for advancing health communication, public health security and maternal-child health advocacy.

Responding on behalf of the award recipients, Dr Amina Baloni-Mohammed expressed appreciation to the organisers, describing the recognition as both an honour and a renewed commitment to advancing healthcare across Africa.

Also speaking, Dr Njide Ndili dedicated the recognition to the teams behind the achievements, stressing that meaningful progress in healthcare is driven by collaboration rather than individual accomplishment.