By Chinwendu Agoha (Governance Reporter)
The World Health Organization (WHO), an International Health Agency of the global body, United Nations, has announced the appointment of Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Director-General of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) as Assistant Director-General
Dr Ihekweazu's appointment will take effect from November 1, 2021. As Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), he will be in charge of Health Emergency Intelligence.
The new appointment of the NCDC boss was contained in a statement issued last night by WHO's Director-General, Dr. Tedros. He said Ihekweazu will lead the work on strengthening pandemic and epidemic intelligence globally, including heading the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin, Germany.
“I am pleased to welcome Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu as an Assistant Director-General for Health Emergency Intelligence from November 1, 2021", said Dr. Tedros. "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”.
Dr. Ihekweazu was trained as an infectious disease epidemiologist. He 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 (NICD), the United Kingdom’s Health Protection Agency, and Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI). He has led several short-term engagements for WHO, mainly in response to major infectious disease outbreaks around the world.
Born in Germany, Dr. Ihekweazu who is a citizen of Nigeria graduated from the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, and has a Masters in Public Health (MPH) from the Heinrich-Heine University, Dusseldorf, Germany.
He was awarded a Fellowship for the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET) in 2003 and subsequently completed his Public Health specialization in the United Kingdom. The NCDC DG is widely published in medical peer-review journals.
Meanwhile, the appointment of Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu has continued to generate positive reactions from eminent Nigerians, particularly from the associates and former colleagues of the Director-General of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC).
One of them, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Political Economist, and ex-Presidential Candidate in the 2019 general elections. Moghalu expressed elation at Dr. Ihekweazu's new appointment, describing it as well deserved
In a congratulatory message to the NCDC boss on Wednesday, September 1, 2021, Moghalu said: "I am proud of Chikwe, who handled Nigeria’s COVID-19 response brilliantly as the NCDC Director-General. Ihekweazu and I were colleagues at WHO in Geneva, years ago; he has always been a dedicated and consummate professional”, Moghalu hailed. NNL.
