Blasio Vincent Ndale Esau Oriedo
Dr. Blasio Vincent Oriedo, in full Dr. Blasio Vincent Ndale Esau Oriedo (born 15 September 1931, Ebwali Village in Bunyore, Kenya Colony—died 26 January 1966, Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya) was an African epidemiologist and a parasitological scientist known for his contributions to tropical medicine and work to stem disease epidemics in colonial and postcolonial Kenya, the countries of East and Central Africa, and the Sudan. He is credited for saving thousands of native African lives from infectious disease. Dr. Oriedo was a recipient of the Extramural Medical Research Grant presented by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dr. Blasio Vincent Oriedo | |
|---|---|
Oriedo c. 1962 | |
| Born | 15 September 1931 |
| Died | 26 January 1966 (aged 34) Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya |
| Education | London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Doctor of Public Health (DPH) |
| Occupation(s) | Epidemiologist, parasitologist, physician, author, hygienist, medical research |
| Years active | 1948–1966 |
| Known for | Contribution to tropical medicine and public health; fighting disease epidemics in Africa; for medical research in the epidemiology of East African leishmaniasis. |
| Relatives | Esau Khamati Oriedo (father) |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Epidemiologist, parasitologist, physician, author, hygienist, medical researcher |
| Field | Tropical medicine, public health, vector-borne epidemiological disease |
| Institutions | Ministry of Health and Housing, Kenya Medical Research Division of Insect-Borne Diseases, Kenya Colony Colonial Medical Services Medical Department of Kenya Colony East African High Commission's Bureau of Research in Medicine and Hygiene |
| Sub-specialties | Leishmaniasis (kala-azar) |
| Research | Tropical diseases |
| Notable works | Tropical diseases: Studies in Epidemiology of East African (Leishmaniasis) Campaign Against Disease Epidemics: 1952 Kala-azar (black fever) or visceral leishmaniasis epidemic; 1954 enteric/typhoid fever epidemic; 1960 Kwashiorkor epidemic; and 1950s/1960s plasmodium falciparum malaria epidemics |
| Awards | Tripartite laureate fellow; NIH Extramural (Medical) Researcher; Special Achievement and Contribution to Public Health—The East African Bureau of Research in Medicine and Hygiene;The Dutch Royal Institute fellow; Bukusu Omukasa |
Oriedo was a patron of academic, healthcare, and socioeconomic development in East and Central Africa. He developed an interdisciplinary approach that connected the struggle for political freedom in Kenya with fully integrated healthcare, intellectual, socioeconomic, and civil infrastructures especially in the rural regions that bore the brunt of disease epidemics and their socioeconomic and sociocultural consequences. He embraced a revolutionary epidemiological perspective towards the economic and intellectual consequences of disease or public health strategy across the East and Central African region. He served as a member of Tom Mboya's interdisciplinary economic development advisory team from 1965 until his death in January 1966.
Oriedo was one of the forces behind the late 1950s–early 1960s US academic scholarship programme for East African students— The Kennedy Airlift.