The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has reacted to the appointment of the head of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu as a top official of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Ihekweazu was appointed by WHO as its Assistant Director-General for Health Emergency Intelligence.
By the appointment, the NCDC DG is set to resume November 1, and will lead the work on strengthening pandemic and epidemic intelligence globally.
Ihekweazu would oversee the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin, Germany.
Reacting, Okonjo-Iweala congratulated Ihekweazu on the feat.
She added that his appointment was a great choice but a big loss to Nigeria.
On her verified Twitter page, the WTO DG wrote, “Congratulations to @Chikwe_I, @WHO, @DrTedros.
“A great choice and a big loss to Nigeria. Wishing you the best in the new assignment!”, she added.
Earlier, the Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, had been appointed Assistant Director-General of Health Emergency Intelligence at the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Ihekweazu’s appointment, which comes into effect on November 1, 2021 was disclosed in a letter signed 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 specialisation in the United Kingdom. He is widely published in medical peer-reviewed journals,” Tedros noted.
