Imposition of Restrictions Act needless – Prof. Binka.

Former Dean of University of Ghana School of Public Health, Foundation Vice Chancellor of University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ho and Clinical Epidemiologist Prof. Fred Newton Binka says the passage of the Imposition of Restrictions Act was needless. The law was passed in 2020 and used by President Akufo-Addo to impose restrictions on movement in Greater Accra and Kumasi. Meanwhile, Ghana’s Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the law that allowed government to impose Covid-19 restrictions is unconditional.

Profile of Prof. Fred Newton Binka

Fred Newton Binka is a Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho. Previously he was the Coordinator of the WHO Emergency Response to Artemisinin Resistance in the Greater Mekong sub-region of Asia. He was the Foundation Vice-Chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, established by the Government of Ghana in March 2012. He also served as Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Ghana.

He worked with the Ministry of Health in Ghana for over 20 years, during which period he established the internationally acclaimed Navrongo Health Research Centre, where he conducted several large-scale intervention studies including the Insecticide treated Bednets study in Ghana. He also established the Indepth-Network, made up of 54 field sites in 24 developing countries in Africa and Asia. Professor Binka has served on more than a dozen WHO expert committees and panels, was Chair of the GAVI Independent Review committee for 4 years and member of the Malaria advisory Committee (MPAC).

He is a Trustee of several International NGO’s working on Health especially malaria, such as Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) and Malaria Consortium based in the United Kingdom. He is a member of the Board of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), Seoul, Korea and a member of the past Council of the Ghana Health Service, Ministry of Health Ghana.

Prof. Binka was the first Recipient of Rudolf Geigy Award 2001 from the R. Geigy Foundation; the Ronald Ross Medal, 2010 from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine for his work on malaria; and Honorary Fellowship of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 2015. He recently received the national award of The Officer of the Order of the Volta (OV), from the President of Ghana. His capacity development efforts also led to the Dr. Pascoal Moccumbi award by EDCTP in 2016.

As an internationally renowned expert in his field, Prof Binka has published widely and served on various peer-reviewed journal editorial boards.