The World Health Organisation has appointed Nigeria Director-General of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control NCDC Dr Ihekweazu as the Assistant Director-General of the Organization (WHO).
He is to be in charge of Health Emergency Intelligence with effect from November 1, 2021
His appointment was announced in a statement issued by the WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros. According to the statement, Ihekweazu will lead the work on strengthening pandemic and epidemic intelligence globally, including heading the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin.
The statement reads:
“I am please to welcome Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu as an Assistant Director-General for Health Emergency Intelligence from November 1, 2021. 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. Please join me in welcoming him to WHO”.the statement in part read
Born in Germany, Ihekweazu is a graduate of the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria and has a Masters in Public Health (MPH) from the Heinrich-Heine University, Dusseldorf, Germany. In 2003, he was awarded a Fellowship for the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET) and subsequently completed his Public Health specialization in the United Kingdom. He is widely published in medical peer-review journals. He became the NCDC boss in August 2016 after his appointment by President Buhari