NIGERIA’s former Minister of State for Health, Muhammad Ali Pate, a doctor, has been appointed the next chief executive officer (CEO) of the Vaccine Alliance, otherwise known as Gavi.

According to a statement on its website, the Gavi Board approved the appointment on Monday, February 13.

The organisation said Pate would lead Gavi as it continued its work to support routine immunisation, outbreak response and COVID-19 vaccinations worldwide.

The Board chairman, José Manuel Barroso, a professor, supervised the yearlong recruitment process.

Gavi is a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate half of the world’s children against some of the world’s deadliest diseases.

Pate will assume office on August 3, 2023, to replace Seth Barkley, a doctor who would have steered the organisation’s affairs for 12 years.

Pate’s brief CV

According to Gavi, Pate is trained in internal medicine and infectious diseases, with an MBA from Duke University in the United States.

He served as Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health between 2011 and 2013. He led a flagship initiative to revive routine vaccinations and primary health care, chaired a presidential task force to eradicate polio and introduced new vaccines into the country.

While serving as Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population of the World Bank and Director of the Global Financing Facility at the World Bank between 2019 and 2021, he led the Bank’s US$ 18 billion COVID-19 global health response. He represented the Bank on various boards, including Gavi, the Global Fund, CEPI and UNAIDS. 

Pate is currently the Julio Frenk Professor of Public Health Leadership at Harvard Chan School of Public Health. In the course of his career, he has served on several health-focused boards and expert panels in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

He stood out in a field of world-class candidates – Board Chairman

Barroso said with his knowledge and experience of both national immunisation programming and international emergency response and global finance, the appointee stood out among his peers.

“I am confident that Gavi will continue to build on its vision and mission, as well as navigate the many challenges and opportunities we will face.”

Gavi noted that the sitting CEO Seth Berkley had made the organisation a centrepiece within the global health landscape, including recently co-establishing COVAX to serve countries during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.

The statement noted that Gavi had shipped nearly 1.9 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to 146 countries.

“Since Dr Berkley took the helm in 2011, the Alliance has averted 11.8 million future deaths (compared to 4.5 million between 2000 and 2010); and has helped immunise more than 676 million children – more than double the 305 million children reached between 2000 and 2010.

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“Thanks to Dr Berkley’s vision for health equity, Gavi has added a number of new vaccines to its portfolio during his tenure, including for HPV, polio, cholera and malaria, and in its current strategy cycle is focusing on reaching zero-dose children across marginalised communities.”

Gavi argued that the economic result of the expansion of its activities during Berkley’s tenure was massive, unlocking over US$ 160 billion of economic benefits compared to US$ 24 billion in its first ten years.

Berkley, on Pate’s appointment

Berkley said he was proud to have been part of what the Alliance achieved and expressed confidence in its future under Pate’s leadership.

“Having worked with him during his time as Minister and at the World Bank, I know he understands intimately the landscape we work in and will be uncompromising in his drive for public health equity.”

Pate reacts to his appointment

Pate said of his appointment, “It will be my privilege to lead Gavi and continue to support countries to scale up critical routine immunisation programmes, reach more zero-dose children, expand access to new vaccines, transform primary health care systems, and help fight outbreaks and future pandemics.”

He joins other Nigerians serving on the global stage

The ICIR reports that Pate joins other Nigerians serving on the global stage. They include Okonjo-Iweala, the country’s former Finance Minister, who now serves as the Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO);

• Akinwumi Adesina, a former Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, who leads the African Development Bank (AfDB);
• Amina Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, and
• The former Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Chikwe Ihekweazu, who is currently an Assistant Director-General for the World Health Organisation’s Health Emergency Intelligence.