WHO appoints Nigerian doctor COVID envoy

WORLD Health Organisation (WHO) has appointed Nigerian-born medical doctor, Ayoade Alakija, its Envoy for Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-Accelerator).

  WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced the appointment over the weekend.

  Alakija is a medical doctor with a postgraduate degree from The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in Public Health and Epidemiology. She is a global health leader and activist who deploys diplomacy to bring together the global north and south together in coordinated responses to the pandemic.

  With the appointment, Alakija joins former Prime Minister of Sweden, Carl Bildt, in this role to help lead the collective advocacy for the ACT-Accelerator, support the leaders of the ACT-Accelerator’s three product pillars (vaccines, tests, treatments) and advise the Director-General, ACT-Accelerator principals and stakeholders on emerging issues; and represent the ACT-Accelerator in key national and international forums.

  It will be recalled that ACT-Accelerator partnership, a coalition of leading public health organizations, is the only global initiative offering an integrated, end-to-end solution to expedite the end of the pandemic through the accelerated development and equitable distribution of vaccines, tests and treatments.