Professor Afua Adwo Jectey Hesse MBChB, FRCS(UK), FWACS, FGCS, FICS

Professor Afua Adwo Jectey Hesse is a Paediatric Surgeon, Medical Educator and Hospital Administrator with several years of experience in her work in both the UK and Ghana.

Prof. Hesse obtained her MBChB in 1976 at the University of Ghana Medical School (UGMS) in Accra, became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh in 1983, a Fellow of the West African College of Surgeons in 1990 and is a Foundation Fellow of the Ghana College of Surgeons (2005). She has been a Fellow of the International College of Surgeons since 2018 and is the Chairperson of the Ghana Chapter. She has a Certificate in Health Management Administration for Senior Health Practitioners from GIMPA, 2005 and a Certificate in Health Management, Planning and Policy from Leeds as well as the Level 8 Diploma of the Chartered Management Institute in London.

She is a woman of many firsts. She was the first female Paediatric Surgeon in Ghana as well as the first woman Surgeon from her alma mater and served as the President of the Medical Women’s International Association, another first for a Ghanaian (2nd African) in the 91-year history of the Association which is the first International Professional Women’s Association.

She is a Professor of Surgery at the University of Ghana Medical School and has served in various capacities at both the Medical School and the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. She was the first female to serve as Head of the Paediatric Surgery Unit Head of the Department of Surgery, Director of Medical Affairs, and subsequently the Acting CEO of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. She was the first female Honorary Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association.

She lectures at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the University of Ghana Medical School and is a reviewer for various international peer-reviewed medical journals. She is an External Examiner at the School of Medical Sciences of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the School of Medical Sciences of the University of Development Studies, the University of Cape Coast School of Medical Sciences, the Faculty of Surgery of the West African College of Surgeons and the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria having trained several generations of Paediatric Surgeons both in Ghana and across West Africa. She has also served as the President of the Pan African Paediatric Surgical Association (PAPSA). She is a researcher par excellence in various Paediatric fields including congenital abnormalities in children, nutritional problems in children and improving quality of hospital service delivery.

Other assignments she has undertaken include serving as a Consultant for the Ministry of Health, serving on Boards of some companies, tertiary institutions and the Ghana Medical Association and the University Community in various capacities. She was a member of the WHO Technical Committee for Voluntary Male Circumcision as a means of reducing the HIV transmission risk since 2014-2021. She was elected as the Chairperson of the Faculty of Surgeons of the Ghana College of Surgeons for a two-year term in 2021. She is currently the Chairperson for the Ghana Chapter of the West African College of Surgeons. She has been involved in various extension services including setting up the first Well woman clinic in Ghana and initiating the training of Traditional wanzams (circumcisers for male infants) in conjunction with the Public Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service. She served as an elected member of the MDC for over 15 years. She has been recognized for her efforts by various organizations including the Millennium Excellence Awards Foundation which awarded her for Medical Leadership in 2010, Glitz Woman of the Year 2017 in Health for her achievements in the field of Health among many others. Currently, she is Co-founder and President of the Accra College of Medicine (ACM), Ghana’s leading private Medical School.

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