Name Peter Odhiambo Role Surgeon | Education McGill University | |
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Professor Peter Amollo (P. A.) Odhiambo, MBBS, MMed (Surg), FRCS (Edin), FCS (ECSA), FACC, is a Kenyan consultant thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon. He is a professor of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at the University of Nairobi. He is a founder and former chairman of the Kenya Cardiac Society, and a former president of the Pan African Society of Cardiology (PASCAR). Odhiambo is the chairman of the Kenya Tobacco Control Board. He is also the founder and editor of Medicom, the African Journal of Hospital Medicine.
In 1986, Prof. Odhiambo was given an award for an outstanding contribution in medicine by the Giant Federation of Kenya, and in 1993 received another award from PASCAR for his distinguished service to cardiology in Africa. He was the Dean of Nairobi University’s Faculty of Medicine from 1992-1996. During his tenure, he successfully steered the faculty towards cost-sharing through its most difficult period for both staff and students.
Prof. Odhiambo has campaigned widely against drug abuse and is at the forefront in the fight for the liberation of tobacco farmers in East Africa. He has steered the Kenya Tobacco Control Board to a successful level enabling the Board be legally institutionalized. He has also played a key role in ensuring that the legal mandate of the Board is within the laid down legal framework as per the Tobacco Control Act of 2007, thus the Board has all the necessary instruments to operate legally<http://www.publichealth.go.ke/tobacco-control-board-of-kenya>.
He is involved in many community projects in his home village of Kanyaluo, found in Rachuonyo District in Western Kenya. He is a founder member and chairman of the Karachuonyo Development Society.
In 1998, Odhiambo’s son, James Ocholla Odhiambo “Jordan”, was gunned down by Kenyan policemen on his way home from the Nairobi Campus of the United States International University, where he was a student. The tragedy, which exposed corruption in the Kenya Police at that time, received wide media coverage and was a major source of motivation for Prof. Odhiambo’s interest in, and consequent campaigns toward, the efficiency and effectiveness of the Kenya Police.
In 2008, Odhiambo won an award from the World Health Organization for his accomplishments in the area of tobacco control.
Prof. Odhiambo was educated at the University of Calcutta, Nairobi University and McGill University. He resides in Nairobi and has five children.