Frederick Torgbor Sai, FRCP(Ed), FWACP, FGA, HonFACOG, HonFRCOG, MSG (23 June 1924 – 17 September 2019) was a Ghanaian academic and family health physician who co-founded the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana in 1967.
[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] A gender and reproductive health advocate, he was known for his campaigns and education drawing attention to the food and nutrition problems of Africa, particularly of women and children.
[1][2][3] Sai's father died when he was about three or four years old and he was raised by his mother, Emelia Shormeh Omaboe;[9] an experience that shaped his resolve to focus on "women's issues" in his medical career.
[1][2][11] He received a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H) from the same institution in 1956 and held a master's degree in public health, earned in 1960, as a WHO Scholar at Harvard University.
[1][2] He returned to his homeland after his medical training in the United Kingdom, in time to be part of the push for independence from Great Britain – a struggle led by Ghana's first leader, Kwame Nkrumah.
With the overthrow of Nkrumah in 1966 in a military coup, the ban on contraceptive use was lifted, and Sai began to take a leading role in Ghana's family planning policies and was soon drawn into the international sphere.
[1][4] He held that post after serving as Senior Population Advisor at the World Bank and working with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
[1] As Chairman of these conferences, Sai led the crafting of a consensus and creating an environment in which nations, groups, organization and people with strong and opposing views could state their positions and yet be prepared to respect and even accommodate their differences from the preparatory activities through the negotiations and, finally, to the adoption of international agreements.
[2] He was a supporter of the Ghana Mama Ye campaign which aimed at achieving zero maternal and infant deaths, leading to improvements in the lives of disadvantaged, low-income and vulnerable mothers and their newborns.
[1][2][3] He played a major role in the development and establishment of various institutions and programs in Ghana, serving at various times as Assistant to the Chief of the Ministry of Health, Director of Medical Services, Chairman of the Medical and Dental Council, Physician Specialist in Human Nutrition, Fellow and later president of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences among other positions.
[2][3][4][5][6][7] In 1969, F. T. Sai spearheaded the roll-out of the Danfa Reproductive and Community Healthcare Facility in 1969, raising funds from the USAID and the University of California, Los Angeles, which extended family planning and public health services to 60,000 rural dwellers in Ghana.
[1][4][5] Among his numerous books were “Adam and Eve and the Serpent”, dealing with the inequalities and the difficulties faced by African women; and “Fred Sai Speaks Out” which is a collection of essays on his views of the reproductive health field, including a letter to Pope John Paul II asking for a reconsideration of the Vatican’s anti-contraception and family planning stance.
Together with his wife, Florence Aleeno Sai, née Dzani who he married in 1952 in London, they raised seven children (four daughters and three sons), three of whom they adopted.
[9][14][15] One of his children, Florence Oboshie Sai-Coffie, a Ghanaian politician, advertising marketing specialist and media executive, served as a cabinet minister in the John Kufuor administration.