Nigeria’s Chikwe Ihekweazu Appointed Acting WHO Regional Director For Africa
The African Regional Committee of WHO member states is scheduled to meet in Geneva on May 18, just before the World Health Assembly, to nominate a new candidate for the position.
Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu has been appointed as the Acting Regional Director of the African Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) following the sudden death of RD-elect Dr Faustine Ndugulile in November 2024.
His appointment was announced by WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday during the ongoing WHO Executive Board meeting in Geneva, Health Policy Watch reports.
The African Regional Committee of WHO member states is scheduled to meet in Geneva on May 18, just before the World Health Assembly, to nominate a new candidate for the position.
The appointment will then be exceptionally approved at the WHO Executive Board’s 157th session following the May WHA. WHO’s legal counsel, Derek Walton, described the selection as an “expedited process,” a move confirmed by the Executive Board on Tuesday.
Dr Ndugulile, who was set to assume office this month, passed away before his election could be confirmed by the WHO Executive Board.
In response, an expedited election process was initiated to allow candidates for the African Regional Director position to campaign.
The African Regional Committee passed a resolution in late January outlining that member states must nominate candidates by February 28, with an online candidates’ forum scheduled for April 2.
Dr Ihekweazu, who joined WHO in 2021, currently serves as the Assistant Director-General and Deputy Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Programme in Geneva.
His interim leadership comes as the African Region prepares for a new permanent director.
According to information on WHO website, as Assistant Director-General for the Division of Health Emergency Intelligence and Surveillance Systems in the Emergencies Programme, Dr Ihekweazu leads the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence.
Prior to this, Dr. Ihekweazu served as the first Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), leading the agency from 2016 to 2021.
In 2017, he held the position of Interim Director at the West Africa Regional Centre for Surveillance and Disease Control.
Additionally, he has worked with the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the United Kingdom’s Health Protection Agency, and Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
Dr. Ihekweazu is an infectious disease epidemiologist, trained at the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria.
He also holds a Master of Public Health from Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany.
In 2003, he was awarded a Fellowship for the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET) and subsequently completed his public health specialization at the United Kingdom’s Faculty for Public Health.
Meanwhile, the WHO Executive Board confirmed the reappointment of Hans Henri Kluge for a second five-year term as the Regional Director for Europe.
Kluge, who began his tenure just before the COVID-19 pandemic, has faced challenges such as the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and public health crises, including the mpox outbreak.
