Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Director-General, Chikwe Ihekweazu has been appointed as Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in charge of health emergency intelligence.
The WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, stated that Ihekweazu will lead efforts on strengthening pandemic and epidemic intelligence globally.
The WHO chief stated that Ihekweazu’s appointment will commence on November 1, 2021
“I am pleased to welcome Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu as an Assistant Director-General for Health Emergency Intelligence from November 1, 2021,” Ghebreyesus said.
“He will lead the work on strengthening pandemic and epidemic intelligence globally, including heading the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin.
“I am confident that Dr. Ihekweazu’s appointment will help further accelerate WHO’s work in health emergencies.”
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According to WHO, Ihekweazu was trained as an infectious disease epidemiologist and has a track record spanning 20 years holding senior public health and leadership positions in various national public health institutes, including the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases, the United Kingdom’s Health Protection Agency, and Germany’s Robert Koch Institute.
“He has led several short-term engagements for WHO, mainly in response to major infectious disease outbreaks around the world,” the agency said.
“Dr Ihekweazu, a Nigerian national, who was born in Germany, is a graduate of the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria and has a Masters in Public Health from the Heinrich-Heine University, Dusseldorf, Germany. In 2003, he was awarded a Fellowship for the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training and subsequently completed his Public Health specialization in the United Kingdom.
“He is widely published in medical peer-reviewed journals.”
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