Dar-es-Salaam based renowned Khoja Professor Karim Manji has been recognised as “Professor Emeritus” by the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS).
Who is Prof. Karim Manji?
Prof. Karim Premji Manji is a Professor in Paediatrics and Child Health at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences with research disciplines in Infectious Diseases, Medical Ethics, Nutrition & Dietetics, and Paediatrics. He has been able to achieve and maintain the level of the highest research scientists to mentor and nurture scientific academia. He has been involved in clinical duties in the neonatal unit, has published a situation analysis of newborns, and has championed activities related to the reduction of neonatal deaths in Tanzania.
Apart from his work at the MUHAS, he is also a part of the Nest360 Program for newborns and is a consultant at WHO doing a lot of research on newborns.
Early life and Journey to becoming a Professor:
Born and brought up in Tanzania, Prof. Manji has 11 siblings. His father was a taxi driver and the primary breadwinner for the family, while his mother did small-time catering. Early in his childhood, he lost his father in a tragic taxi accident, making his mother the sole breadwinner of the family. Her small-time catering turned full-time, and all the siblings helped her mother in catering. Prof. Manji’s task was to go house to house to solicit customers in the morning, only returning home once the food cart was empty. This always made him late to school, and he used to climb sewage pipes to reach class through the window to avoid corporal punishment.
During his high school, he fell ill with Jaundice because of drinking contaminated water and was hospitalised for 3 months, which resulted in him being barred from school as the examinations were over. He dropped out of school, took private tuition for his A Levels, and picked up a job at a local car dealership while assisting his mother with their catering business. He finished his A levels in 3 years, and shortly after, his mother became ill and passed away. On insistence from a good Samaritan, who had given them a loan for their mother’s treatment, he went to India to pursue further studies in medicine. With nothing in his pocket and no arrangements for accommodation, he completed his MBBS from the Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati Medical College in India with great difficulties.
He returned home to Tanzania after completing his MBBS, as did his masters in Paediatrics. While working as a resident in Paediatrics at Muhimbili, he discovered that scores of babies were dying every day, often relating to preterm delivery related to poor maternal nutrition, often combined with substandard obstetric practice, and he knew he was destined to shape a career that could advance neonatal health in Tanzania. He gained a Commonwealth scholarship to pursue a fellowship in neonatology in the UK and flew to London to study at the former Royal Postgraduate Medical School, now known as the Imperial College.
When he returned, he started working with other neonatologists, but it was one-to-one with the patients (babies) and was insufficient. He quickly realised that it was exhausting and something had to be done more broadly. He went to Harvard School of Public Health for a master’s in public health and learned many skills that would help him bring about large-scale awareness. He came back to Tanzania and did a situation analysis of newborns and presented it at a launch at the Ministry of Health. It proved to be a turning point for the future of Neonatal Health as a desk for Neonatal health was set up, and from then on, the Regional Health Management Team received funding for newborn babies in all the regions in the country. There were only 6 neonatal units in the country then, now there are around 67 units, and the mortality rate of neonatal was 56/1000 which has been brought to 19/1000.
His Achievements:
Prof. Manji has published over 190 research articles, 45 of which were published in 2023 alone, in many high-impact factor journals. He has presented 2 Professional Inaugural lectures and managed 5 completed, 5 ongoing and 3 upcoming large research projects.
During an interview with Sibtain Panjwani in 2020, Prof. Manji spoke about a significant life event. He mentioned that at one point in his career while working in the public service in Tanzania, he was very frustrated with the way the public service operated and wanted to quit. He had the opportunity to visit and speak with His Eminence Sayyed Sistani (dz) in 1995, and he mentioned his desire to quit (through an Arabic-speaking friend who had accompanied him from Tanzania, who acted as a translator). His Eminence asked him 3 questions – Is it a threat to his life? He said no. Is it causing problems in maintaining his family? He said no; he further added that he was able to meet ends, and had a little more than that and had a valid practice after office hours. And the last question was, does his work touch and serve the poor of the poorest? …. He said yes in many ways; then his eminence said, “I urge him to continue working because it is the seerah of Ahlul Bayt (as) to work in the hardest of the situations to serve the poor of the poorest”. “And that why, Prof. Manji says, I am here today”. He further stated; and it started within 3 years, I was a Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, the youngest in the university, I broke the record of being a full professor at the age of 47 when nobody else broke that record in the University of Dar Es Salaam and the Vice Chancellor at that time came to meet me personally saying that during his tenure ship he signed my documents for senior lecturer, associate professor and a full-time professor and he has never seen such achievement in the shortest period of time. Prof. Manji adds, “and that is the wisdom of such people (speaking about His Eminence) who look at you in the eyes and tell you do this!”
Prof. Manji’s accolades include:
- Award of Grant for Professorial Inaugural Lecture – Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) 2011
- Fellowship Award of the Tanzania Academy of Sciences 2012
- Best Employee among Academic Staff for the year 2013/2014 Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS)
- Best Health Research Scientist in Tanzania, 2016- NIMR Award – October 2016
- Fellowship to the Royal College of Physicians (RCP)-London 2017
- Fellowship to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (London)
- International Award in Excellence in Patient Care: Royal College of Physicians (RCP)-London, April 2019
- Award for outstanding contribution on “Rare Diseases in Tanzania” 28th February 2021
- Profiled as the Architect of New Born Care in Tanzania by The Lancet in 2021.
Recognition as Professor Emeritus:
The honorary “Professor Emeritus” title is one of the highest form of recognition a professor can receive. The Emeritus status is important as it indicates that someone has played a significant role in their field and contributed significantly to academic life.
On 07th June, the Communication and Marketing Unit of MUHAS announced that Prof. Manji has been awarded the recognition as “Professor Emeritus” by MUHAS upon his retirement. Prof. Manji retired from public service on 07th June 2024.
The Khoja News Team Congratulates Prof. Karim Manji on this recognition. We pray to Allah (swt) to reward him for his exemplary work and to grant him success in all his endeavours, Ameen.
References:
- Food Vendor to Architect of Progress in Newborn Health | Karim Manji | TEDxDaresSalaamIntlAcademy (youtube.com)
- In Conversation with Professor Karim Manji – ‘Our Pride and Joy’ – PART 1 (youtube.com)
- Karim Manji: architect of progress in Tanzanian newborn health – The Lancet
- Manji | African Scientists Directory
