TEPHINET is pleased to announce that Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Assistant Director General at the World Health Organization (WHO) leading the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, is the new co-chair of the FETP Enterprise Strategic Leadership Group (SLG).

Conceptualized in the Global Field Epidemiology Roadmap and launched in April 2021, the SLG provides high-level leadership and accountability for the implementation of the Roadmap. The SLG is co-chaired by the WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Dr. Ihekweazu was nominated by the previous WHO co-chair, Dr. Ibrahima Socé Fall, who serves as the WHO’s Assistant Director General for Emergency Response. Dr. Socé Fall transitioned from the SLG in December 2021.

“I would like to thank Dr. Socé Fall for his immense contributions during the SLG’s formative months and to welcome my former colleague, Dr. Ihekweazu,” says Dr. Carl Reddy, the director of TEPHINET. “Dr. Ihekweazu and I worked together at South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) prior to his appointment as head of the Nigeria CDC. Chikwe is a visionary and FETP [EPIET] graduate, with strong epidemiology and leadership skills. I am thrilled that he will be joining the SLG as we work to ensure that every country in the world has strong applied epidemiological capacities.”

The TEPHINET Secretariat serves as the secretariat to the SLG, coordinating the meetings and activities of the SLG and its associated working groups. Currently, these working groups are developing implementation plans linked to the recommendations of the Global Field Epidemiology Roadmap.