4th August, 2009
Dr Chris Wood - (1924 – 2009)
AMREF regrets to announce the death of Dr Christopher Wood, a former Director-General of AMREF (1985-1989), who passed away last weekend while on a visit to the United States of America. He was 85.
Chris, as he was popularly known to friends and colleagues, played a key role in the development of the Public Health/Community Health department of the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF). A medical doctor by profession, Chris demonstrated his passion for the training of health workers during his tenure at the University of Dar es Salaam, where he set up the Public Health programme.
Chris believed that preventing disease was as important as, or even more so than curing it and that the solution lay not in employing more doctors and nurses, but in training more health workers at community level. In 1973, he became the first director of AMREF’s training department, which has since become the cornerstone of the organisation’s activities.
Always up for adventure and never one to shy away from a challenge, Chris first went to Southern Sudan in the early 1970s as health advisor to Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement. He was instrumental in the development of the first Health Policy of Southern Sudan following the initial peace agreement in 2003. This paved the way for AMREF’s current engagement with the Government of Southern Sudan, including support for the development of the country’s policy on human resources for health. Chris was also involved in setting up the Maridi Training Institute to train desperately needed clinical officers.
After his retirement in 1989, Chris continued to consult for AMREF in various capacities and to enrich the organisation’s activities with his knowledge, expertise and insight. Until his death, he was still involved with AMREF’s training programme, especially in support of our work in Southern Sudan.
Chris earned recognition from Queen Elizabeth last year for his work in bringing health care to marginalised African communities when she awarded him the prestigious Order of the British Empire (OBE) at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace. Energetic to the end, Chris was a founder and board member of the Nairobi Hospice; a council member of the Tropical institute of Community Health at the Great Lakes University; founder of AfriAfya, a health knowledge management and communications organisation, and a founder member of Action Africa Help. He recently began an environmental programme to save trees by making cooking fuel from dry leaves and waste paper.
Whatever he did, Chris always had a lot of fun. His quirky sense of humour and extraordinary way of looking at ordinary things made every task an adventure, every discussion a source of entertainment and enlightenment. He loved to be around people, and he died as he lived – having fun with friends at dinner. He leaves a lasting legacy across the continent, where training of health workers, primary health care and the development of learning materials are now firmly established.
“The AMREF family will miss Chris’s energetic mind and the great effort he put into establishing AMREF’s community health brand,” says Dr Florence-Muli-Musiime, AMREF’s Deputy Director-General. “We stand with his family and friends during this difficult time as they mourn his departure and celebrate his life. It is our hope that the memory of the strength of his character, his courage and his sense of humour will lighten their path during this very difficult time.” 
