Eldryd Parry

Sir Eldryd Hugh Owen Parry KCMG OBE is a British academic, physician and founder of the Tropical Health and Education Trust,[1] which helps African medical schools and hospitals to improve staff skill levels.

Parry has an honorary DSc (Kumasi) and a number of honorary Fellowships, and is a founding member of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Amoud University, Somaliland. He is the founder of the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET) [2] and senior editor of Principles of Medicine in Africa (revised edition, 2004).

He was educated at Shrewsbury School and studied medicine at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.[3] He now holds an honorary Fellowship, and at Cardiff University. He worked at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London before secondment to University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1960. After three years at Haile Selassie University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, he returned to Nigeria in 1969 as the Chair of Medicine at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. in 1977 he took the post of Foundation Dean of Medicine, at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. It was in Ilorin that he introduced a radical community based programme, COBES with Professor Ladipo Akinkugbe. He was Dean and Professor of Medicine at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, from 1980 to 1985.

He is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Cardiff and of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where he is also an Honorary Professor; an honorary Foundation Fellow at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ghana; and a Foundation Member of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of Amoud University, Somaliland.

He founded the Tropical Health and Education Trust in London, in 1988.

In 2007, Parry received a lifetime achievement award from the Royal Society of Medicine for achievement in tropical medicine, and was made an Honorary Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1982 and Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to healthcare development in Africa.[4]

The third edition of Principles of Medicine in Africa won: Society of Authors and Royal Society of Medicine Book Awards Winner 2005 - Winner 2005 British Medical Association First Prize in its category 2005 - Winner

He is married to the academic Helen Parry; they have four children and four grandchildren. Helen has been pivotal in her long-term role at the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, and in her teaching and engagement with overseas students. [5]