Amina Mohammed Ali

Revolutionized healthcare access in Lebanon through mobile clinics and community midwifery

Dr. Amina Mohammed Ali (1925-2001) transformed rural healthcare in Lebanon by creating the first mobile health units in the 1950s. A trained midwife from Tyre, she developed the Community Health Worker model that trained 3,000 women as village health aides. Her Maternal Health Initiative reduced infant mortality by 60% in mountainous regions through birth centers built in partnership with local tribes. Amina's Pharmacy on Wheels program (1962) provided medications to 80 remote villages, serving as a model for WHO's Essential Medicines List. Despite opposition from traditional healers, she established Lebanon's first midwifery school in 1958, graduating 200+ practitioners. Her memoir Walking with the Women (1975) details her work during the civil war era. The Amina Health Network continues her mission today, operating 45 clinics across the Middle East.