CHIKWE IHEKWEAZU APPOINTED ASSISTANT DG OF WHO

Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director General, NCDC

Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, a Nigerian epidemiologist and public health physician who is the current Director General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, the agency responsible for protecting public health and safety through the control and prevention of communicable diseases in Nigeria has been appointed as the Assistant Director General of Health Emergency Intelligence at the World Health Organisation (WHO).

His appointment which is scheduled to take effect on November 1, 2021 was disclosed in an official letter signed and addressed to him by the WHO Director General, Tedros Ghebreyesus.

“I am pleased 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.

“Dr Ihekweazu is currently the Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. He was trained as an infectious disease epidemiologist, has over 20 years of experience working in senior public health and leadership positions in several 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.

“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,” Ghebreyesus’ statement partly read.

According to the letter, upon his resumption Dr. Ihekweazu will be in charge of WHO’s pandemic and epidemic response hub in Berlin, Germany.

However, many, Nigerians in particular have continued to shower encomiums on the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) over his appointment.

Mr Ihekweazu was trained as an infectious disease epidemiologist with more than 20 years of experience working in senior public health and leadership positions in several 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. The new appointee is said to have led several short-term engagements for WHO, mainly in response to major infectious disease outbreaks around the world, Premium Times reports.