Everlyne Onyango is a medical doctor pursuing her residency (MA) in nuclear medicine at Stellenbosch University, South Africa—the first Kenyan female doctor to specialize in the subject. Everlyne was born along the shores of Lake Victoria in Kisumu, Kenya, and has a humble family background. Her parents struggled to pay her high school and university tuition fees, and she completed her studies through various educational scholarships.
Door-to-door community awareness campaign on HIV and HPV vaccination for young girls
Having witnessed many of her close family members and neighbors succumb to HIV/AIDS, Everlyne decided to devote her career to shifting the health paradigm in Kisumu and Kenya, focusing on HIV/AIDS and cancer. Cervical cancer, caused by the HPV virus and exacerbated by the immunosuppression of HIV/AIDS, imposes the highest cancer burden in Kenya. Many young girls and women in Kenya are at risk of acquiring HPV, ultimately increasing their risk of cervical cancer. When women die of cervical cancer, they leave behind orphans with no one to care for their health and education, creating a vicious cycle of disease burden and poverty.
Everlyne will open the first Imani PET Centre in Kenya. This charitable institution will provide free HPV vaccinations to young girls 9–14 years old, free screening for women, and comprehensive cancer treatment for women diagnosed with cervical cancer, including PET imaging. Through partnerships with NGOs, the local government, and her network of oncology health professionals, Everlyne aims to screen and vaccinate more than 5 million girls by 2026.
