Thomas John Bisika
Encyclopedia
Thomas John Bisika, a Social Demographer and Public Health Specialist cum diplomat, is a Health Systems Specialist at World Health Organization in Nigeria.
. He is originally from Makanjira Village, TA Chikowi, Zomba District
. He worked as a Programme Specialist for the United Nations Population Fund in the sub-regional office for Southern Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa as part of his career as a United Nations diplomat.
Before this he was a Senior Lecturer in health policy and management at the University of Pretoria
School of Health Systems. From 1993 to 2005 he was a Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Research of the University of Malawi
. During this period he also taught demography and sociology at Chancellor College, a constituent College of the University of Malawi. He studied at Chancellor College of the University of Malawi, Georgetown University
in Washington, DC, United States of America, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
, University of Hawaii
, University of the Witwatersrand
, Galillee College (Israel), Atlantic International University and University of South Africa
. He holds a B.Sc. in Demography and Computer Science, a M.A.
in Reproductive Health Demography and Statistics, a postgraduate certificate in Health Systems Management and Doctorate of Science in Medical Anthropology.
While a student at Chancellor College, he formed the Demography Student Association which he went on to become the founding President and was also the interim President of the Student Union of Chancellor College between 1992 and 1993. He is presently a member of the Population Association of America.
. From 1998-2000 he was part of the Essential National Health Research network created under the auspices of Council for Health Research and Development (COHRED). In 2008 Dr Bisika was a member of the Positive Synergies between Global Health Initiatives and Health systems and is privileged to be a member of the Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA) and the Africa Platform on Human Resources for Health.
At the African Union Dr Bisika wrote speeches for H.E. Alpha Konare, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, and Advocate Bience Gawanas, Commissioner for Social Affairs. He was also instrumental in the elaboration of a number of African Union policy documents including the African Common Position on Migration and Development, Africa Health Strategy, Plan of Action on Violence Prevention, Policy Framework on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Maputo Plan of Action and the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa. He was also a member of the drafting team which elaborated the Africa-EU Strategy that was adopted in Lisbon
, Portugal during the second EU-Africa Summit in December 2007
. In 2006 he led a team that produced the second State of the African Population Report which was adopted by the African Population Commission in June 2006 in Johannesburg
, South Africa.
Dr Thomas Bisika is now the director of the National AIDS Commission of Malawi.Dr Thomas Bisika has also previously worked as a consultant for the World Food Programme
, World Health Organization
, United Nations Population Fund
, Danish Red Cross, Danish International Development Agency, Population Services International, International Eye Foundation, Catholic Relief Services, National AIDS Commission (Malawi), Ministry of Health, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Gender of the Malawi Government and several NGOs including Project Hope, Banja La Mtsogolo and Emmanuel International.
1. Bisika, Thomas, Ntata, P. and Konyani, S. 2009. Gender-violence and education in Malawi: a study of violence against girls as an obstruction to universal primary school education. Journal of Gender Studies
. 18 (3): 299-306
2. Bisika T, Konyani S, Chamangwana I, Khanyizira G. 2009. The Epidemiology of HIV among Drug Abusers in Malawi. African Journal of Drug and Alcohol Studies. 8(2):126-131.
3. Bisika, Thomas. 2009. A pilot study to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of local terminology for malaria screening among children in rural Malawi. Malawi Medical Journal; 21(2):56 -58.
4. Bisika, Thomas. 2008. Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS Risk Perception in the Tourism Industry: The Case of Malawi. Malawi Medical Journal; 21(2):75 -80.
5. Bisika, Thomas. 2009. The potential acceptability of Microbicides in HIV prevention in Stable marital relationships in Malawi. Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care, 35(2): 115-117.
6. Bisika, T., Courtright, P., Geneua, R., Kasote, A., Chimombo, L and Chirambo, M. 2009. Self treatment for eye diseases in Malawi. African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines
. 6(1): 23-29.
7. Bisika, Thomas. 2008. Do Social and Cultural Factors perpetuate Gender Based Violence in Malawi? Gender & Behaviour Vol. 6 (2) 2008: 1884-1896.
8. Bisika, T and G. Mandere. 2008. Integration of Nutritional in the Antiretroviral Therapy Scale up Plan for Malawi. September 2008; Malawi Medical Journal. 20(3): 93-98.
9. Bisika, Thomas. 2008. The Effectiveness of the TBA Programme in Reducing Maternal Mortality and Morbidity in Malawi. East African Journal of Public Health Vol. 5 (2) August 2008: 103-110
10. Bisika, Thomas. 2008. Cultural Factors that Affect Sexual and Reproductive Health in Malawi. Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care. 34 (2): 79-80, April 2008.
11. Bisika, Thomas, Madeleine Short, Gold-Marie Wontumi, Jenny Truong, Amy Tsui. 2007. "Repositioning Family Planning To Reduce Unmet Need". African Renaissance Vol. 4 (3&4): 83-101.
12. Valerie A. Paz Soldan, Thomas Bisika, Aimee Benson, Janine Barden-Ofallon, Joseph deGraft-Johnson. 2007. Social, Economic and Demographic Determinants of Sexual Risk Behaviors among Men in Rural Malawi. African Journal of Reproductive Health
. 11(2): 33-46. August 2007.
13. Janine Barden-Ofallon, Joseph deGraft-Johnson, Thomas Bisika, Aimee Benson and Amy Tsui. 2004. Factors associated with HIV/AIDS Knowledge and Risk Perception in Rural Malawi. AIDS and Behavior. 8(2): 131-140. June 2004.
Academic career
He is the former Chief of Division responsible for Health, HIV/AIDS, Nutrition, other related infectious diseases and Population at the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He was born on April 6, 1967 in MalawiMalawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
. He is originally from Makanjira Village, TA Chikowi, Zomba District
Zomba District
Zomba District is one of twelve districts in the Southern Region of Malawi, surrounded by the Districts of Chiradzulu, Blantyre, Mulanje, Phalombe, Machinga, Balaka and the Republic of Mozambique to the east...
. He worked as a Programme Specialist for the United Nations Population Fund in the sub-regional office for Southern Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa as part of his career as a United Nations diplomat.
Before this he was a Senior Lecturer in health policy and management at the University of Pretoria
University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria is a multi campus public research university located in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa...
School of Health Systems. From 1993 to 2005 he was a Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Research of the University of Malawi
University of Malawi
The University of Malawi is an educational institution established in 1964 and composed of five constituent colleges located in Zomba, Blantyre, and Lilongwe. Of the five colleges, the largest is Chancellor College in Zomba. The name of the school is abbreviated to UNIMA. It is part of the...
. During this period he also taught demography and sociology at Chancellor College, a constituent College of the University of Malawi. He studied at Chancellor College of the University of Malawi, Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
in Washington, DC, United States of America, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is part of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
, University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
, University of the Witwatersrand
University of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University...
, Galillee College (Israel), Atlantic International University and University of South Africa
University of South Africa
The University of South Africa is a distance education university, with headquarters in Pretoria, South Africa. With approximately 300 000 enrolled students, it qualifies as one of the world's mega universities.-History:...
. He holds a B.Sc. in Demography and Computer Science, a M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in Reproductive Health Demography and Statistics, a postgraduate certificate in Health Systems Management and Doctorate of Science in Medical Anthropology.
While a student at Chancellor College, he formed the Demography Student Association which he went on to become the founding President and was also the interim President of the Student Union of Chancellor College between 1992 and 1993. He is presently a member of the Population Association of America.
Charity work
With respect to charity work, Thomas Bisika was one of the youngest Malawians ever to have been inducted as a Member of the Lions Club International. From 1994 to 2001 Dr. Thomas Bisika was the chairperson of the National Health Sciences Research Committee which is the National Health Research Ethics Review Board for the Malawi Government and is housed in the Ministry of Health headquarters. In this capacity he approved a number of clinical trials and health related studies including the ones involving antiretroviral therapyAntiretroviral drug
Antiretroviral drugs are medications for the treatment of infection by retroviruses, primarily HIV. When several such drugs, typically three or four, are taken in combination, the approach is known as Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy, or HAART...
. From 1998-2000 he was part of the Essential National Health Research network created under the auspices of Council for Health Research and Development (COHRED). In 2008 Dr Bisika was a member of the Positive Synergies between Global Health Initiatives and Health systems and is privileged to be a member of the Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA) and the Africa Platform on Human Resources for Health.
Awards
In 1999 Dr. Thomas John Bisika received The Gender Matters Award of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Ottawa, Canada. The money from this award was shared with the Centre for Social Research where he conducted the research on traditional eye medicine which earned him this award. Dr Bisika's name appeared in “Marquis Who's Who in the World 2010” and is a nominee for “2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Century 2010”.At the African Union Dr Bisika wrote speeches for H.E. Alpha Konare, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, and Advocate Bience Gawanas, Commissioner for Social Affairs. He was also instrumental in the elaboration of a number of African Union policy documents including the African Common Position on Migration and Development, Africa Health Strategy, Plan of Action on Violence Prevention, Policy Framework on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Maputo Plan of Action and the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa. He was also a member of the drafting team which elaborated the Africa-EU Strategy that was adopted in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Portugal during the second EU-Africa Summit in December 2007
2007 Africa-EU Summit
The Africa-EU Summit, which was held on 8 December – 9 December 2007 in Lisbon, Portugal, was the second summit between heads of state and government from EU and Africa . It was hosted by Portugal, the holder of the EU's rotating presidency...
. In 2006 he led a team that produced the second State of the African Population Report which was adopted by the African Population Commission in June 2006 in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, South Africa.
Dr Thomas Bisika is now the director of the National AIDS Commission of Malawi.Dr Thomas Bisika has also previously worked as a consultant for the World Food Programme
World Food Programme
The World Food Programme is the food aid branch of the United Nations, and the world's largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger worldwide. WFP provides food, on average, to 90 million people per year, 58 million of whom are children...
, World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
, United Nations Population Fund
United Nations Population Fund
The United Nations Population Fund is a UN organization. The work of the UNFPA involves promotion of the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. This is done through major national and demographic surveys and with population censuses...
, Danish Red Cross, Danish International Development Agency, Population Services International, International Eye Foundation, Catholic Relief Services, National AIDS Commission (Malawi), Ministry of Health, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Gender of the Malawi Government and several NGOs including Project Hope, Banja La Mtsogolo and Emmanuel International.
Publications
Dr Bisika's has presented a number of papers at the Population Association of America (PAA). His scientific journal publications include:1. Bisika, Thomas, Ntata, P. and Konyani, S. 2009. Gender-violence and education in Malawi: a study of violence against girls as an obstruction to universal primary school education. Journal of Gender Studies
Journal of Gender Studies
The Journal of Gender Studies is a leading British peer-reviewed scientific journal for interdisciplinary gender studies, published by Routledge. It has been published since 1991, and publishes articles relating to gender from a feminist perspective covering a wide range of disciplines....
. 18 (3): 299-306
2. Bisika T, Konyani S, Chamangwana I, Khanyizira G. 2009. The Epidemiology of HIV among Drug Abusers in Malawi. African Journal of Drug and Alcohol Studies. 8(2):126-131.
3. Bisika, Thomas. 2009. A pilot study to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of local terminology for malaria screening among children in rural Malawi. Malawi Medical Journal; 21(2):56 -58.
4. Bisika, Thomas. 2008. Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS Risk Perception in the Tourism Industry: The Case of Malawi. Malawi Medical Journal; 21(2):75 -80.
5. Bisika, Thomas. 2009. The potential acceptability of Microbicides in HIV prevention in Stable marital relationships in Malawi. Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care, 35(2): 115-117.
6. Bisika, T., Courtright, P., Geneua, R., Kasote, A., Chimombo, L and Chirambo, M. 2009. Self treatment for eye diseases in Malawi. African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines
African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines
The African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines publishes research in all areas of applied medicinal plants, traditional medicine, complementary alternative medicine, food and agricultural technologies, and promotion of healthy use of medicinal products. It is abstracted...
. 6(1): 23-29.
7. Bisika, Thomas. 2008. Do Social and Cultural Factors perpetuate Gender Based Violence in Malawi? Gender & Behaviour Vol. 6 (2) 2008: 1884-1896.
8. Bisika, T and G. Mandere. 2008. Integration of Nutritional in the Antiretroviral Therapy Scale up Plan for Malawi. September 2008; Malawi Medical Journal. 20(3): 93-98.
9. Bisika, Thomas. 2008. The Effectiveness of the TBA Programme in Reducing Maternal Mortality and Morbidity in Malawi. East African Journal of Public Health Vol. 5 (2) August 2008: 103-110
10. Bisika, Thomas. 2008. Cultural Factors that Affect Sexual and Reproductive Health in Malawi. Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care. 34 (2): 79-80, April 2008.
11. Bisika, Thomas, Madeleine Short, Gold-Marie Wontumi, Jenny Truong, Amy Tsui. 2007. "Repositioning Family Planning To Reduce Unmet Need". African Renaissance Vol. 4 (3&4): 83-101.
12. Valerie A. Paz Soldan, Thomas Bisika, Aimee Benson, Janine Barden-Ofallon, Joseph deGraft-Johnson. 2007. Social, Economic and Demographic Determinants of Sexual Risk Behaviors among Men in Rural Malawi. African Journal of Reproductive Health
African Journal of Reproductive Health
The African Journal of Reproductive Health is a peer-reviewed medical journal that publishes original research on reproductive health in Africa. The online edition of the journal hosts abstracts of articles from issues dating back to 2001 . The journal is abstracted and indexed in Index...
. 11(2): 33-46. August 2007.
13. Janine Barden-Ofallon, Joseph deGraft-Johnson, Thomas Bisika, Aimee Benson and Amy Tsui. 2004. Factors associated with HIV/AIDS Knowledge and Risk Perception in Rural Malawi. AIDS and Behavior. 8(2): 131-140. June 2004.