PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has appointed a new director-general for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
He is Ifedayo Adetifa, a clinical epidemiologist and associate professor of infectious diseases epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Buhari announced Adetifa’s appointment in a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity Garba Shehu on Monday.
Adetifa obtained his medical degree at the University of Ilorin, trained in Paediatrics and Child Health at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and received the West Africa College of Physicians in Paediatrics’ Fellowship in 2005.
He studied Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and was awarded his MSc by the University of London in 2009.
He got his PhD from the University of Amsterdam in 2012 for research in Tuberculosis Epidemiology.
His research interests include: vaccine impact/effectiveness studies, innovative approaches/surveillance tools for monitoring vaccination, tuberculosis epidemiology, and evidence synthesis, including systematic reviews. He was awarded the MRC/DFID African Research Leader Fellowship in 2018.
He is a member of the Kenyan National Immunisation Coordinating Committee and the World Health Organisation, Africa Region’s (WHO-AFRO) Regional Immunisation Technical Advisory Group.
He is expected to deploy his wealth of experience to drive Nigeria’s fight against COVID-19 and other infectious diseases such as cholera and Lassa fever.
Adetifa is also among the high-powered experts assembled by President Buhari on Tuesday to reform the country’s health sector.
THE World Health Organisation had, on August 30, appointed the outgone Director-General of the NDCDC Chikwe Ihekweazu as assistant director-general of its Health Emergency Intelligence.
Ihekweazu returned to Germany where he was born and bred to resume his new role.
His appointment takes effect on November 1.
“He will lead the work on strengthening pandemic and epidemic intelligence globally, including heading the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin,” the WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said in a statement, announcing Ihekweazu’s new job.
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