WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has announced his senior leadership team naming Dr Soumya Swaminathan as the new Deputy Director General for Programmes and Jane Ellison the Deputy Director General for Corporate Operations.
 
Dr Swaminathan from India has more than 30 years of experience in clinical care, research and translating those findings into programs. She most recently served as Secretary of the Department of Health Research in India and as Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Jane Ellison from UK brings with her more than 30 years of experience in government, commerce and change management. Most recently, she was the Special Parliamentary Adviser to the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer. She also served as the British Public Health Minister from 2014 to 2016.

The new team includes former ministers of health, some of the world’s leading physicians, scientists and researchers, and programmatic experts in universal health coverage, health emergencies, communicable and non-communicable diseases, climate and environmental health, and women’s, adolescents’ and children’s health, said a statement from WHO.
 
Individually and collectively, they have a wealth of experience across government, private sector, multilateral, civil society and academic organizations, it stated.
 
“The team represents 14 countries, including all WHO regions, and is more than 60 per cent women, reflecting my deep-held belief that we need top talent, gender equity and a geographically diverse set of perspectives to fulfil our mission to keep the world safe,” remarked Dr Tedros.
 
In addition to the two, Dr Peter Salama will remain in his role as the executive director of the Health Emergencies Programme.
 
The assistant director general appointees are: Dr Bernhard Schwartländer, Chef de Cabinet; Dr Naoko Yamamoto, Assistant Director General for Universal Health Coverage and Health Systems Cluster; Prof Lubna A. Al-Ansary, Assistant Director General for Metrics and Measurement; Dr Svetlana Akselrod, Assistant Director General for Non-Communicable Diseases and Mental Health; Ambassador Michèle Boccoz, Assistant Director General for External Relations; Dr. Ranieri Guerra, Assistant Director General for Special Initiatives; Dr. Ren Minghui, Assistant Director General for Communicable Diseases; Dr. Mariângela Batista Galvão Simão, Assistant Director General for Drug Access, Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals; Dr. Princess Nothemba (Nono) Simelela, Assistant Director General for Family, Women, Children and Adolescents; Stewart Simonson, Assistant Director General for General Management; Dr. Joy St John, Assistant Director General for Climate and Other Determinants of Health.

All of these appointees will be transitioning into their new roles over the next several weeks, said the statement.

Welcoming the new team, Dr Tedros said: "I am thrilled to welcome this group of diverse, talented global health leaders to WHO and am grateful for the opportunity to work alongside them to ensure health for all."

"I also would like to acknowledge the work of my transition team, chaired by Dr. Senait Fisseha, which has been instrumental not only in helping me seamlessly move into the Director General role, but also in putting together this leadership team," he added.-TradeArabia News Service