The Former Director of the Greater Accra Regional Health Services, Dr. Irene Akua Agyepong received The Sam Adjei Distinguished Public Service Award for her academic and policy reform contributions to advancing the field of Global Health System and Research.

Dr. Agyepong received this award, for her role as Technical Advisor for the development and implementation of Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme that enabled greater accessibility to affordable healthcare.

The Awards which were presented during the Fourth Global Symposium on Health Systems Research held from 14 to 18 November 2016 in Vancouver, Canada were aimed at recognizing the contributions of researchers and policymakers to the field of Health policy and Systems research as well as Evidence-based policy making in health.

Dr. David Peters, Chair of AHPSR Board remarked that, The awards celebrate their achievements with the knowledge that the work they accomplished will build excellence and further promote the field of Health systems and Policy Research. He added in his statement that with higher standards of excellence, they are better equipped to find holistic solutions to many of the health challenges faced by countries.”

Internationally, Dr. Agyepong is on multiple advisory committees and also was a founding Board member of HSG and served as the First Chair of the Society up until 2014. Furthermore, she has been a member and Chair of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee of the AHPSR and above all a great mentor to every young scientist.