BREAKING NEWS, Health
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Two international organisation, World Health Organisation and Global Fund welcome the appointment of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the new chair of the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
THE World Health Organisation, WHO, is happy with the appointment of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the chair-elect of the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Okonjo-Iweala will take up the position from January 2016 and will succeed Dagfinn Høybråten, a former Norwegian minister of health and current secretary general of the Nordic Council of Ministers. She will also work closely with Flavia Bustreo, WHO assistant director-general for Family, Women’s and Children’s Health, who is vice chair of Gavi.
Okonjo-Iweala is a renowned development economist and former Nigerian finance minister. She brings more than 33 years of development and financial expertise to the Gavi Board at a critical period for immunisation in developing countries. She had served as managing director of the World Bank from 2007 to 2011.
Earlier this year, WHO warned that vaccines are not being delivered equitably or reliably and that only 1 out of the six key vaccination targets for 2015 is currently on track – the introduction of under-utilised vaccines, a target to which Gavi has contributed significantly.
Since 2000, Gavi has supported the immunisation of more than half a billion additional children, leading to seven million future deaths being averted.
WHO is one of the founding members of Gavi, a public-private partnership formed in 2000, to address global inequities in access to and coverage of available lifesaving vaccines. Over the next five years, WHO will continue to lead collective efforts to achieve and sustain universal vaccination coverage as outlined in the Decade of Vaccines Global Vaccine Action Plan. WHO plays a critical role providing global recommendations on immunisation, ensuring that vaccines are safe and of assured quality, and providing support to countries to implement
Similarly, the Global Fund has congratulated Gavi and Okonjo-Iweala on her appointment. As a key partner, the Global Fund looks forward to a productive working relationship with Dr. Okonjo-Iweala.
Okonjo-Iweala brings deep experience and insight in global health issues to her new role at Gavi. The Global Fund anticipates close collaboration, particularly in its joint work around systems for health, women’s and girls’ health.
The Global Fund also recognises the important global health contribution of Dagfinn Høybråten, Gavi’s outgoing chair and former Norwegian health minister. During Høybråten’s tenure, Gavi made strong progress towards its five-year target of immunising nearly a quarter of a billion children between 2011 and 2015, Global Fund said.
— Oct 5, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT
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