Omar Badiru Egesa believed in using what is within his reach to solve big problems, even if the impact could seem insignificant in the short term.
So in the early 90s and 2000s when HIV-Aids was an easy death sentence as interventions against it were clouded in myths, especially in rural settings, Egesa believed in research as a means to tackling the problem.
He had been a researcher and lecturer of medical anthropology since 1994. He teamed up with other scientists to explore the efficacy of male circumcision as a way of deterring the spread of the virus.
The country agreed with them in the mid-2000s, promoting male circumcision, not as a cultural rite but as a means of cutting the chains of the spread of the virus. He earned a full professorship in 2008 at the same university.
From their research, male circumcision was mainstreamed in the country and service provided freely in public health facilities with the capacity to do the procedure.
So true to his belief, Egesa used the tool at his disposal to create change.
The accomplished professor Egesa died on March 18 at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret aged 57.
Besides the efficacy of the process, his brief was also how communities that did not adopt the cut could accept it, tailoring the messaging that it was medical intervention, not a cultural practice.
He is survived by his wife Audrey Mukhwana and four children—Tushan Rosa, Shaban Omar, Jeanmarie and Happy Omar.
According to his 29-page curriculum vitae, the professor published "over 50 works; 40+ journal articles, four book chapters, one published book, three book reviews".
"I have facilitated, presented or participated in over 100 scientific meetings. I have been involved in more than 35 scientific research, consultancy and training engagements that are contextual, national and international, especially in the areas of culture and reproductive health," the document reads.
The professor had written widely—his works published in high-end journals, including the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, BMC- Bio-Med Central; AIDS Care: Psychological and Socio-Medical Aspects of HIV-Aids; the Canadian Journal of Public Health; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Tropical Medicine and International Health; and the Journal of Higher Education in Africa, Quality of Life Research.
He also served as visiting professor at the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, in 2018. Egesa was buried on Monday.
