Miriam Khamadi Were (born 12 April 1940) is a Kenyan public health advocate, academic, and recipient of the first Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize.

She focused on the process of bringing basic medical services and health rights to women and children in the villages of East Africa.

[6] Were has also written poetry and fiction and is the author of four novels:[7][8] The Boy In Between (1969), The High School Gent (1969), The Eighth Wife (1972),[9] and Your Heart Is My Altar (1980).

[10] The Japanese Government established the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize in July 2006 as a new international medical research and services award.

The first announcement of plans to create this prize was timed to mark the official visit to Africa by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in May 2006.

[15] The Prize aims to honour individuals with outstanding achievements in combating various infectious diseases in Africa or in establishing innovative medical service systems.

[16] The inaugural presentation ceremony and the initial laureate lectures coincided with the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which was held in Yokohama in late-April 2008.

[19] Were was honoured in the Medical Services category; her laureate lecture topic was "Potential for Improvement in Africa's Health Through Evidence and Persistence in the Spirit of Dr. Hideyo Noguchi".