By Maxwell Awumah
Ho, June 11, GNA – Six students of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) have been awarded the “Dora Gertrude Quaye Memorial Scholarship” worth GHS36,520 for the 2026/2027 academic year.
The beneficiaries are Amankwah Louisa Appiagyaa, Dufie Fedra, Philomena Adjei, Grace Antwi, Rukaa Fuseini, and Victoria Quarshie.
A total of 21 students have benefited from the scholarship scheme, which has provided GHS117,038 in support over the past five years.
The recipients were announced at the Fifth Professor Margaret Gyapong Annual Lecture and Mentorship Programme, instituted for female students, faculty, and staff of UHAS.
Professor Margaret Gyapong, a global epidemiologist and anthropologist, donated her “Outstanding Female Science” prize money of 20,000 Euros, awarded by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) in 2021, to establish the scholarship scheme in honour of her late mother. The initiative aims to support brilliant but needy students, faculty, and staff of UHAS.
In recognition of her contribution, the Governing Council of UHAS, in December 2021, instituted an annual lecture and mentorship programme in her honour, alongside approval for the rollout of the scholarship scheme.
Prof Lydia Aziato, Vice Chancellor of UHAS, who disclosed this at the lecture and mentorship event at the Cedi Auditorium in Ho, described Prof Gyapong as an accomplished and internationally acclaimed medical anthropologist and former Director of the Institute of Health Research at UHAS (2018–2024).
Prof Gyapong said her difficult upbringing with a single parent resonated across society, and her determination to address such challenges inspired her decision to give back to society as a civic responsibility.
She said her late mother was committed to educating her children and other family members, sacrificing everything for that purpose, but sadly passed away in 1991, one year after her marriage, without witnessing the fruits of her labour.
She paid glowing tribute to her spouse, Prof John Gyapong, former Vice Chancellor of UHAS, as well as family and friends for their contributions to the fund. She also made an open appeal for support from all stakeholders to help extend her mother’s dream of reaching more female students through the scheme.
Addressing the gathering on the theme “Nurturing the Girl-Child: What Investment Do We Need?” Professor Mrs Esther Yeboah Danso-Wiredu, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), said the girl-child should not be seen as a problem to be solved but as a promise to be fulfilled through policy and investment.
She added: “Nurturing the girl-child is not the responsibility of government alone, but a shared duty of families, individuals, institutions, and communities, and must, above all, be driven by the willingness of the girl-child to be nurtured.”
The Pro-Vice Chancellor underscored the need for greater investment in shaping the character of the girl-child, promoting moral uprightness—both religiously and socially—and instilling respect and value for all people.
GNA
Edited by: Audrey Dekalu
Reporter: Maxwell Awumah