MWAN's founder, Dr. S. Oludayisi Oduntan, participated at the 1974 International MWIA Congress in
Rio de Janeiro, and returned to Nigeria inspired to create her own national organization for female medical professionals in the
Niger Delta. On 4 June 1975, MWAN met for the first time at the
University College Hospital in
Ibadan. At the 1976 MWIA Congress in
Tokyo, MWAN was formally enrolled with the international community. Three female doctors, Dr. Oludayisi Oduntan, Dr. Aderonke Manuwa-Olumide, and Dr. Modupe Onadeko, attended that particular Congress on behalf of what was then only a regional organisation. Dr. Irene Ighodaro served as the first president, and its first bi-annual conference was held at the
Lagos University Teaching Hospital on 19 May 1979. Elected during the association's centennial triennial meeting in July 2019, MWAN past president
Eleanor Nwadinobi (2007 - 2009 biennium) also served as president of the International body (MWIA), after the resignation of the president at the time. In 2017, the organization reportedly screened 6,000 women for cervical cancer, with plans to screen 8,000 women annually. == References ==