Helping vulnerable children has been Harvard winner’s goal

Tanzanian academic Karim Manji, a medical professor at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) in Dar es Salaam, has earned the top alumni award from Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. He is the first person from his country to win the accolade.

Called the Alumni Award of Merit, the honour is bestowed upon an alumnus of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health for outstanding contributions to public health.

Manji, a lecturer and researcher in the MUHAS department of paediatrics and child health, boasts a slew of academic qualifications, including an MPH in nutrition from Harvard University, an MMed from MUHAS and an MBBS from Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati Medical College in Odisha, India. His research disciplines include infectious diseases, medical ethics, and paediatrics.

In 2019, Manji was named the best health research scientist in Tanzania and received the Royal College of Physicians Excellence in Patient Care Award. On 28 February 2021, he received an award for outstanding contributions on ‘Rare Diseases in Tanzania’.

More important than the awards Manji has received, is the work he did to deserve them. According to the African Scientists Directory, “He conducted two major trials related to the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, which have contributed to scientific knowledge and changes in policy in prevention of mother-to-child transmission issues.”

The African Scientists Directory also notes that Manji conducted a survey and situation analysis of autism in Tanzania. He then published an academic article titled, ‘Identifying gaps in knowledge, prevalence and care of children with autism spectrum disorder in Tanzania – A qualitative review’, in the December 2013 issue of the Tanzania Medical Journal, detailing his findings. According to the directory, this work is especially important because autism is not recognised nor given any importance in Tanzania.

To learn more about him and his work, University World News interviewed Manji via e-mail when he was in Boston to receive the award from Harvard.

UWN: Why did you choose paediatrics and child health as an academic path?

KM: Initially, I wanted to become a surgeon, but after my internship at the MKCG Medical School and Hospital in Odisha, India, I realised that children are most vulnerable and equally amenable to responding to treatment and care.

My teacher and mentor, doctors Suvarna Devi and Karim Zulfikar, were outstandingly compassionate and caring. They inspired me. After I returned to Tanzania, it was even more important that I pursue paediatrics, especially neonatology, because, then, there were few paediatricians and very few neonatologists.

UWN: What major challenges have you faced in your academic career and how have you dealt with them?

KM: No success is without challenge. But, considering every challenge as an opportunity is important. Instead of shying away from a challenge, you have to face it head-on and overcome it. Perseverance and keeping the end goal in mind is important.

After my good Samaritans sent me to study medicine, I realised that it’s important to be austere and make sure to differentiate between ‘want’ and ‘need’. I would ask myself, do I need to buy this item, or is it just a ‘want’? There is a difference.

I also made an impact at the undergraduate university, so I got some internal merit scholarships such as hostel fees. So, I survived with the little money which my Samaritans provided, without burdening them. I believe that, if one works for the community sincerely and keeps in mind that this is a noble job, then rewards flow from unexpected sources.

I studied in London (neonatology) and at Harvard (where I got this prestigious award) and, on these and many other occasions, I felt like relocating, because I was able to perform very well and work hard. But, all the time, I remembered my vulnerable children in Tanzania, especially the neonates.

I, therefore, decided that, as long as I can maintain my family, am safe and secure, and can make even a small difference, then I must return – whatever I earn. In 1995, I was offered a job at a very reputable private hospital; I was to be paid five times the salary I earned and transport and housing. I refused. I had talked to my religious leader Al-Sistani, and he advised that serving the needy and helping your community has rewards beyond your imagination here and hereafter. I conceded and I have shown that this is, indeed, true.

UWN: What do you consider your greatest achievement and why?

KM: There are several, but I will highlight a few:

• I held an Association of Commonwealth Universities fellowship in neonatology in 1993-94, mentored by Professor David Edwards.

• Undertaking the situation analysis of newborns in Tanzania in 2008. The report has been used as a guide to measure the achievements in neonatal care in Tanzania. The director of newborn services, Dr Felix Bundala, once said: “We use it as a compass to identify our path towards improving newborn care.” (I was guided by Joy Lawn of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.)

• Undertaking and facilitating the development of a neonatal fellowship and masters of science programme in my university to build capacity in the field.

• Undertaking the MPH degree at the Harvard School of Public Health, holding a Fogarty Scholarship granted through MUHAS and, thereafter, receiving NIH grants for research one after the other under the mentorship of Wafaie Fawzi (Sudanese American epidemiologist and now professor of population sciences at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health).

• Putting Tanzania in the research limelight.

• Undertaking the HPTN 046 study on the prevention of HIV transmission through breastfeeding. This caused a policy change globally.

UWN: You have won multiple awards, the latest from Harvard. How did you accomplish this?

KM: Perseverance, persistence, focus, and seeing the end in mind. Don’t waver in what you love to do, especially for the community. The community is not confined to a single group, it’s global. Take pleasure and feel the happiness of having helped a desperate patient or student to accomplish something. Altruism at work. In every aspect. And, yes, respect for parents and serving them unconditionally, I believe makes a lot of difference.

UWN: You won an award for outstanding contribution to rare diseases in Tanzania in 2021. What work culminated in this award?

KM: This work is actually in relation to my clinical service for children with rare diseases … to raise awareness of rare diseases. Many children with rare diseases are being cared for by me. However, in 2016, the Ali Kimara Rare Disease Foundation helped organise Tanzania’s first Rare Disease Day, or RDD.

I was a founding member of an event to spread awareness and advocate for patients with rare conditions. The foundation collaborates with other organisations like the Tanzania Human Genetics Organisation to promote education, diagnosis and research on rare diseases in the country. So, in 2021, when a large-scale conference was organised, the then vice president, Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan (now President) of Tanzania, awarded me an accolade for my contribution.

UWN: How do you feel about the recognition you have received over the years?

KM: I feel appreciated. I feel all those hardships, those hunger pains, those sleepless nights, those long hours, and so on … have just vanished; they feel trivial, I feel a sense of accomplishment. I still want to do more. These awards and accolades energise me to do more.