A LIMERICK-born doctor and Catholic nun has received a Presidential Distinguished Service Award for her charity work overseas.
Sr Dr Miriam Duggan, who graduated from UCC with a degree in medicine in 1964, spent 30 years working at a hospital in Uganda, where she established clinics and mobile care programmes for people suffering from HIV/AIDS.
She also founded the Youth Alive programme, which provides ongoing education regarding sexual behaviour, drugs, self-esteem and constructive life choices.
In 1998, she transferred to Southern Africa where she continued to establish care and prevention programmes for HIV/AIDS.
Sr Miriam is a member of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa; she has dedicated her life to combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic and is often referred to as ‘The Mother Teresa of Africa’.
She has previously been honoured by Harvard University, the Church of Uganda and the Templeton Foundation, and the President and Parliament of Uganda for her work.
Among the ten recipients of the 2015 Presidential Distinguished Service Awards are actor Gabriel Byrne, solicitor Gareth Peirce and author Mario Vargas Llosa.
The awards recognise those who have served Ireland with distinction and those who have actively contributed to Ireland in a sustained manner.
