Naomi Oyoe Ohene Oti, an oncology nurse specialist from Ghana, has been awarded the 2025 Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award, receiving a $250,000 prize at a ceremony held in Dubai. Ohene Oti serves as Head of Nursing at the National Radiotherapy Oncology and Nuclear Medicine Centre at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.
The award was presented by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mabarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, in the presence of officials from Aster DM Healthcare, which instituted the award in 2021 to honour exceptional contributions in the nursing profession.
The 2025 edition saw over 100,000 nominations from nurses across 199 countries, reflecting a 28% increase from the previous year.
In her acceptance remarks, Ohene Oti described the honour as recognition for nurses across Ghana, Africa and globally.
“This recognition belongs to every nurse who leads with resilience and compassion. It will help us scale training, build faculty, and inspire the next generation of oncology nurses across Africa", she said.
With more than two decades of experience, Ohene Oti has led significant initiatives to address disparities in cancer care. She played a key role in developing Ghana’s postgraduate oncology nursing curriculum and has trained over 60 oncology nurse specialists and 10 breast care nurses. She has also forged international partnerships to enhance cancer education and patient outcomes in Ghana.
Her contributions extend beyond national borders. She serves on the African Organisation for Research and Training in Cancer’s education committee and has worked with international organisations including ISNCC and ASCO to shape policies and competencies for cancer nursing. She has mentored over 40 nurses across African countries and contributed to developing regionally relevant cancer care practices.
She has been previously honoured with Ghana’s Ministry of Health Excellence Award and the Dr. Dorcia Kisseh International Award from the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus sent a message congratulating the finalists and commending the award’s role in highlighting the contributions of nurses worldwide.
The nine other finalists honoured at the ceremony were Catherine Maree Holliday (Switzerland), Edith Namba (Papua New Guinea), Fitz Gerald Dalina Camacho (UAE), Dr. Jed Ray Gengoba Montayre (Hong Kong SAR), Dr. Jose Arnold Tariga (USA), Khadija Mohamed Juma (Kenya), Maheswari Jaganathan (Malaysia), Dr. Sukhpal Kaur (India) and Vibhaben Gunvantbhai Salaliya (India). They were selected following a multi-stage review process led by Ernst & Young LLP and an international jury.
Sheikh Nahyan praised nurses as the foundation of healthcare systems, calling them providers of “care, comfort and hope in the most critical moments".