The University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) has named its School of Public Health after the Foundation Vice-Chancellor, Prof Fred Newton Binka.

The Governing Council and management of UHAS led by its Vice-Chancellor,  Prof John Owusu Gyapong took the decision after considering Prof. Fred Binka’s contribution to the establishment and nurturing of the University.

Prof Fred Newton Binka was appointed the first Vice-Chancellor of the UHAS after he served on a committee which worked on establishing the University in 2012. 

He led the University for four years, exhibiting dedication and commitment to its development, where he laid a solid foundation. 

Five Schools were established Under his tenure after implementing the development of the UHAS incubation facilities at Trafalgar, Hohoe and the main campus at Sokode.

The Schools are the Allied Health Sciences, Basic and Biomedical Sciences, Nursing and Midwifery, Medicine and Public Health.

Even in retirement, the epidemiologist still contributes to the development of the School of Public Health, to enable it to win an international reputation, This was due to his passion for public health. 

He played a pivotal role in the establishment of graduate programmes at the School. 

At a short ceremony to name UHAS’ School of Public Health after him, the UHAS Vice-Chancellor, Prof John Gyapong, eulogised Prof Binka’s contribution to the inception of the University. 

“You can have things written on paper, all the documentation can be done… but to implement it, to get somebody to come onto the ground to implement it, it’s not very easy.

And Prof Binka for the four years that he was here I would say without hesitation that he accomplished the purpose for which he was brought here”, he detailed. 

He described him as an individual who had contributed immensely to public health in Ghana, and the world at large, hence worthy of celebrating, while alive. 

Prof Fred Binka appreciated the gesture and chronicled his academic journey, his passion for public health, and how he rejected a juicy offer to serve UHAS,

He outlined his short-term goals for the Fred N. Binka School of Public Health, which includes sponsoring 10 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) students at the Fred N. Binka School of Public Health.

He would also donate equipment his family had purchased for an Ebola laboratory to the School of Public Health, adding that he would leverage his worldwide network to solicit resources for the school to establish a chair for accomplished people. 

This he believes would contribute raise the profile of the University. 

“We are having a problem with one of the institutions we created that had been very useful in developing capacity in the developing world, that is called the in-depth network.

We are in talks now, but we will solve that problem quickly. When it is done we will move that whole institution and bring it to the School of Public Health”, he assured. 

Prof Binka said he would commit the rest of his life to the development of the school. 

A sculpture bust was unveiled at the temporary campus of the School, on the premises of the Volta Regional Hospital in Hohoe.

A permanent campus for the Fred N. Binka School of Public Health is being developed at Fodome, in the same municipality.