He is an authority on health, nutrition, population and family planning, and has received more international honours for his work in support of women’s rights than he cares to mention in his autobiography.
But in person he is of slight build, dressed proudly in the traditional style of his ancestors, and exuding humour and warmth as, with a twinkle in his eye, he rises to address audiences at international events dedicated to the survival of mothers and newborns.
Educational Background
Fred Sai began life as a barefoot child in Osu, then part of the colony known as the Gold Coast. After attending Achimota School, he left Ghana to train as a doctor in the UK. He then returned to his home country, in time to be part of the struggle for independence from Britain – a struggle led by Kwame Nkrumah.As Elizabeth A. Ohene notes in a review of his autobiography, success did not come easily, but he delighted in battling for his causes.
Struggles
One of his biggest battles was with the first, charismatic and powerful President of newly-independent Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah.Nkrumah was an advocate of women’s rights, and also pioneered population studies in Ghana, and the first full modern, population census on the African continent: Ghana’s 1960 census.However, keen that Ghana should grow and develop, he had serious reservations about family planning – and so banned the import of contraceptives and other family planning methods. Doctors providing them had to do so secretly.
Determination
One of those was the young Dr. Fred Sai, who surreptitiously provided contraceptives to women – despite the risks posed by the President’s oppositionWith the overthrow of the President Nkrumah in 1966 by a military coup, the ban on contraceptive use was lifted, and Fred Sai began to take a leading role in Ghana’s family planning policies. Soon he was drawn into the international sphere.
Resolution
Here the battles grew more ferocious and included squaring up to the US delegation to the United Nations Conference on Population in Mexico. Amongst the toughest must have been his battles with the Vatican on the subject of family planning and abortion, or as Presidential Adviser on Population and HIV-AIDS.Now in his 80s, Professor Sai may be battle-scarred, but he remains cheerful, positive and active – determined to protect the sexual and reproductive health rights of women in Ghana, but also around the world.
Your Contribution
Prof. Sai's life is a testimony of how determination and hard work can lead to improvements in the lives of disadvantaged, poor and vulnerable groups of people. His contribution to reproductive health services challenges you to contribute to saving the lives of mothers and their newborns by joining and supporting the Ghana MamaYe campaign.
Together, we can work to to achieve zero maternal and infant deaths.