Comlan A. A. Quenum Explained

Birth Date:10 January 1926
Education:École nationale de médecine et pharmacie (Diploma)
University of Bordeaux (MBBS, MD)
Workplaces:University of Dakar
World Health Organization
Awards:National Order of the Ivory Coast
Order of the Equatorial Star, National Order of Merit (Senegal)
National Order of Benin
Order of Merit (Congo)
Birth Name:Comlan Alfred Auguste Quenum
Website:YouTube Channel
Birth Place:Ouidah, Benin
Death Place:Brazzaville, Congo

Comlan A. A. Quenum (10 January 1926 - 15 August 1984) was a Beninois physician, diplomat, and official. He was the first African to serve as the Regional Director for Africa for the World Health Organization (WHO). The Government of Cameroon established the Dr Comlan A.A. Quenum Prize for Public Health in 1987 in his memory.

Life and career

Early life and education

Comlan Alfred Auguste Quenum[1] [2] was born on 10 January 1926 in Ouidah, Benin.[3]

Quenum obtained a Diploma from the École nationale de médecine et pharmacie in Dakar, Senegal (1948-1952), a Bachelor of Medicine from the University of Bordeaux (1954–1955), and a Doctor of Medicine from the Medical Faculty at the University of Bordeaux (1954–1957). He also earned several certificates, including Zoology (1958), Biology (1959), and Animal Physiology (1960), and became an Agrégé in Histology and Embryology in 1962.

Career

Quenum was the Chief Physician at the Infirmary in Senegal from 1953 to 1954.[4] In addition, Quenum also served as the Chief of Histology Study at the Joint Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy in Dakar, Senegal, from 1959, and as a professor of Embryology and Histology at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy in Dakar from 1959 to 1963. Quenum also served as a professor at the Joint Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy at the University of Dakar in 1963–1964.[5]

Quenum was an active member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee on Professional & Technical Education of Medicine and Auxiliary Personnel from 1964 to 1965. This committee played an essential role in formulating guidelines for training healthcare professionals in Africa.[6] [7] [8] He then became the Regional Director for Africa at the WHO from 1965.[9] He was also the first African to hold this position[10] and the second African to become a Regional Director after Aly Tewfik Shousha, who was the Regional Director of the Eastern Mediterranean Region since the WHO inception on 1 July 1949.[11] [12]

Quenum, until his sudden death, played a crucial role in the implementation of various health programs across Africa.[13] [14] As the Regional Director for Africa at the WHO, he had to engage with various governments and organizations to promote public health policies[8] [15] [16] including tabaco,[17] smallpox,[18] [19] onchocerciasis,[20] AIDS,[21] and chemotherapy.[22]

Quenum was one of the 124 founders of the World Cultural Council in 1981.[23]

Quenum died on 15 August 1984[24] in Brazzaville, Congo.

Awards and honours

Quenum was also recognized for his diplomatic work, having received honors such as the Commander of the National Order of the Republic from Ivory Coast, the Order of the Equatorial Star from Gabon, and the Order of Merit of, Senegal, and Benin. He was awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Abidjan in the Ivory Coast and the National University of Zaire as well.

After his death, the Government of Cameroon established the Dr Comlan A.A. Quenum Prize for Public Health in 1987 in his memory. This prize is awarded by the WHO to recognize individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions to public health in Africa.[25] [26] The prize was awarded every two years until it was discontinued in 2000.[27]

References

  1. Web site: Comlan Quenum - NeglectedScience . 2023-04-02 . www.neglectedscience.com . 2022-12-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221207155636/http://www.neglectedscience.com/alphabetical-list/q/comlan-quenum . live .
  2. Web site: Optimiser les moyens logistiques pour assurer l'approvisionnement en médicaments dans les zones sanitaires au Bénin . 2023-04-02 . WHO Regional Office for Africa . en . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220656/https://www.afro.who.int/node/9568 . live .
  3. Web site: Comlan A. A. Quenum . 2023-04-02 . id.oclc.org . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220608/https://id.oclc.org/worldcat/entity/E39PBJc7XgQMhfBXqV8vQPtFrq.html . live .
  4. Book: Mahler, Halfdan T. . The African Response to the Global Philosophy of Action for Health . 1981 . Regional Office for Africa (AFRO), World Health Organization . en . 2023-04-02 . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220650/https://books.google.com/books?id=hjCzAAAAIAAJ . live .
  5. Book: Quenum, Comlan A. A. . Twenty Years of Political Struggle for Health . 1985 . Regional Office for Africa, World Health Organization . en . 2023-04-02 . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220615/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q_lhwgEACAAJ . live .
  6. Quenum . Comlan A. A. . 1984 . Introduction: Health for all and the Ethiopian Journal of Health Development . The Ethiopian Journal of Health Development . en . 1 . 1 . 1021-6790 . 2023-04-02 . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220653/https://ejhd.org/index.php/ejhd/article/view/1300 . live .
  7. Book: Katz . Frederick Manfred . Personnel for Health Care: Case Studies of Educational Programmes . Fülöp . Tamás . 1978 . World Health Organization . 978-92-4-130070-4 . en . 2023-04-02 . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220651/https://books.google.com/books?id=N_QlAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Comlan+A.+A.+Quenum%22+-wikipedia . live .
  8. Book: Addo-Twum, J. K. . Daily Graphic: Issue 8542 April 7 1978 . 1978-04-07 . Graphic Communications Group . en . 2023-04-02 . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220610/https://books.google.com/books?id=E7ComwrusBYC&dq=%22Comlan+A.+A.+Quenum%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA5 . live .
  9. Book: WHO Chronicle . 1985 . World Health Organization . en . 2023-04-02 . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220652/https://books.google.com/books?id=Kz7wUqjZUFIC&q=%22Comlan+A.+A.+Quenum%22+-wikipedia . live .
  10. Bump . Jesse B. . Aniebo . Ifeyinwa . 2022-09-06 . Colonialism, malaria, and the decolonization of global health . PLOS Global Public Health . 2 . 9 . e0000936 . 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000936 . 2767-3375 . 36962810. 10021769 . free .
  11. 1949 . World Health Organization . live . International Organization . 3 . 2 . 357–360 . 10.1017/S0020818300020786 . 0020-8183 . 2703761 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230214020836/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2703761 . 14 February 2023 . 11 February 2023.
  12. السارة . قاسم طه . 2009. --> . دور منظمة الصحة العالمية وبرنامجها العربي في النهوض باللغة العربية . Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal . 15 . 3.
  13. Web site: WHO Public health prizes and awards . 2023-04-02 . apps.who.int . 2022-12-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221201202323/https://apps.who.int/gb/awards/e/Comlan.html . live .
  14. Book: United States Treaties and Other International Agreements . 1978 . United States Department of State . en . 2023-04-02 . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220618/https://books.google.com/books?id=OxV1pBOQnk4C&dq=%22Comlan+A.+A.+Quenum%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA3781 . live .
  15. Book: Smoking and Health Bulletin . 1983 . U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Center for Disease Control, Bureau of Health Education, National Clearinghouse for Smoking and Health. . en . 2023-04-02 . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220651/https://books.google.com/books?id=j6pL2_lY_J0C&dq=%22Comlan+A.+A.+Quenum%22+-wikipedia&pg=RA1-PA452 . live .
  16. Book: Osemwota, Osa . Some Issues in Nigerian Health Planning and Management . 1992 . Omega Publishers . en . 2023-04-02 . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220651/https://books.google.com/books?id=iXowAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Comlan+A.+A.+Quenum%22+-wikipedia . live .
  17. Book: Bibliography on Smoking and Health . 1983 . en . 2023-04-02 . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220651/https://books.google.com/books?id=_POm9adGmr8C&dq=%22Comlan+A.+A.+Quenum%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA452 . live .
  18. Book: Fenner . Frank . Smallpox and Its Eradication . Henderson . D. A. . 1988 . World Health Organization . 978-92-4-156110-5 . en . 2023-04-02 . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220652/https://books.google.com/books?id=GDUQAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Comlan+A.+A.+Quenum%22+-wikipedia . live .
  19. Book: Wickett . J. . Smallpox Eradication in Ethiopia . Meiklejohn . Gordon . 1979 . Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia, Ministry of Health . en . 2023-04-02 . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220652/https://books.google.com/books?id=Tl8wAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Comlan+A.+A.+Quenum%22+-wikipedia . live .
  20. Book: Samba . Ebrahim M. . The Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa: An Example of Effective Public Health Management . 1994 . World Health Organization . 978-92-4-156168-6 . en . 2023-04-02 . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220652/https://books.google.com/books?id=mHgiFGASDZsC&q=%22Comlan+A.+A.+Quenum%22+-wikipedia . live .
  21. Book: AIDS Health Promotion Exchange . 1991 . WHO/GPA . en . 2023-04-02 . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220653/https://books.google.com/books?id=H84lAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Comlan+A.+A.+Quenum%22+-wikipedia . live .
  22. Book: Chemotherapy . 1977 . S. Karger . en . 2023-04-02 . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220652/https://books.google.com/books?id=iEWFAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Comlan+A.+A.+Quenum%22+-wikipedia . live .
  23. Web site: About Us . November 8, 2016 . World Cultural Council.
  24. Book: United States Participation in the UN: Report by the President to the Congress for the Year . 1984 . Bureau of International Organization Affairs . en . 2023-04-02 . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220650/https://books.google.com/books?id=fChIAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Comlan+A.+A.+Quenum%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA254 . live .
  25. 1988 . Comlan A. A. Quenum Prize for Public health . 10665/101231 . en . 2023-04-02 . 2022-05-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220516080125/https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/101231 . live .
  26. Book: Darpan, Pratiyogita . Pratiyogita Darpan . January 2007 . Pratiyogita Darpan . en . 2023-04-02 . 2023-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402220706/https://books.google.com/books?id=3ugDAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Comlan+A.+A.+Quenum%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT172 . live .
  27. Book: Lee . Kelley . Historical Dictionary of the World Health Organization . Fang . Jennifer . 2013 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-0-8108-7858-7 . en . 2022-12-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230325230749/https://books.google.com/books?id=9zCEmpopjG0C&dq=Dr+Comlan+A.+A.+Quenum+Prize+for+Public+Health&pg=PA116 . 2023-03-25 . live.

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