Nurses from Ghana and Kenya shortlisted for global nursing award   » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya May 14 – Kenya’s Khadija Mohamed Juma and Naomi Ohene Oti of Ghana have been named among the top 10 finalists for the prestigious Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award 2025, which honors exceptional nurses from around the world for their remarkable service and leadership in healthcare.

Chosen from over 100,000 nominations across 199 countries, these two outstanding women exemplify innovation, compassion, and impact in nursing.

The winner, to be announced at a grand ceremony in Dubai on May 26, 2025, will receive a cash prize of USD 250,000.

With a career spanning more than 23 years, Naomi has transformed cancer care and education across Ghana and Africa.

Twenty-nine-year-old Khadija Mohamed Juma is a nurse at Tudor Sub-county Hospital in Mombasa and the founder of RedSplash, an initiative that is revolutionizing blood donation in Kenya through a Smart Donor Search algorithm that connects donors to patients in real time.

She has led over 500 donation drives, collected more than 25,000 units of blood, and helped save an estimated 75,000 lives. Her work began as a personal mission following the tragic death of a friend’s mother due to delayed transfusions.

In response, Khadija founded RedSplash—mobilizing schools, mosques, and communities while breaking myths and promoting voluntary donation.

Her model, dubbed “Deliver blood faster than pizza,” challenges the black-market system and aims to build Kenya’s first RedSplash Blood Bank and mobile units in the near future.

With a career spanning more than 23 years, Naomi has transformed cancer care and education across Ghana and Africa. Based at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana’s foremost cancer treatment center, where she serves as an Oncology Nurse Specialist and Head of Nursing at the National Radiotherapy Oncology and Nuclear Medicine Centre, she has pioneered specialist training programs in oncology nursing, collaborated with global institutions like the Cross Cancer Institute (Canada), and mentored over 60 oncology nurse specialists and 10 breast care nurses across the country.

Naomi’s pioneering leadership helped develop Ghana’s first postgraduate oncology nursing curriculum in 2015, and her mentorship of over 48 nurses across Africa reflects her broader vision to redefine oncology care standards for the continent.

The Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award, now in its fourth edition, is among the world’s most coveted recognitions for nurses.

The 2025 finalists were shortlisted by an independent process advised by Ernst & Young LLP (EY) and evaluated by an international Grand Jury and Expert Panel.

The gala award ceremony will be held in Dubai, UAE on May 26, 2025.

The top 10 finalists for 2025 includes: Catherine Maree Holliday (Centre for Community-Driven Response, Switzerland), Edith Namba (Mount Hagen Provincial Hospital, Papua New Guinea), Fitz Gerald Dalina Camacho (Mediclinic City Hospital, UAE), Dr. Jed Ray Gengoba Montayre (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR), Dr. Jose Arnold Tariga (Insight Global Health, USA), Khadija Mohamed Juma (Tudor Subcounty Hospital, Kenya), Maheswari Jaganathan (Cancer Research Malaysia), Naomi Oyoe Ohene Oti (Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana), Dr. Sukhpal Kaur (PGIMER, India), Vibhaben Gunvantbhai Salaliya (Hospital for Mental Health, India).