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Tag: Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu

  • NCDC DG Chikwe Ihekweazu appointed Assistant DG of WHO

    NCDC DG Chikwe Ihekweazu appointed Assistant DG of WHO

    The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, has been appointed as the Assistant Director General of Health Emergency Intelligence at the World Health Organisation (WHO).

    Ihekweazu’s appointment – which comes into effect on November 1, 2021 – was disclosed in a letter signed by the WHO Director General, Tedros Ghebreyesus.

    “I am pleased to welcome Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu as an Assistant Director-General for Health Emergency Intelligence from November 1, 2021.

    “He will lead the work on strengthening pandemic and epidemic intelligence globally, including heading the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin.

    “Dr Ihekweazu is currently the Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. He was trained as an infectious disease epidemiologist, has over 20 years of experience working in senior public health and leadership positions in several National Public Health Institutes, including the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases, the United Kingdom’s Health Protection Agency, and Germany’s Robert Koch Institute.

    “He has led several short-term engagements for WHO, mainly in response to major infectious disease outbreaks around the world.

    “Dr Ihekweazu, a Nigerian national, who was born in Germany, is a graduate of the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria and has a Masters in Public Health from the Heinrich-Heine University, Dusseldorf, Germany. In 2003, he was awarded a Fellowship for the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training and subsequently completed his Public Health specialization in the United Kingdom.

    “He is widely published in medical peer-reviewed journals,” Ghebreyesus’ statement partly read.

    Sources in the NCDC also confirmed the development and disclosed that the inauguration of the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence is expected to take place later on Wednesday (today).

    Dr Ihekweazu is expected to partake in a panel session at the ceremony, even as the hub seeks to bring together partners worldwide to collaborate and create tools and data needed for countries to prepare, detect and respond to pandemic and epidemic risks.

    This special event will also include a ceremony to recognize Chancellor Angela Merkel’s outstanding leadership in global public health.

  • NCDC DG breaks silence, says Infectious Diseases Bill gives me excessive powers

    NCDC DG breaks silence, says Infectious Diseases Bill gives me excessive powers

    The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, has said the Control of Infectious Diseases Bill gives him excessive powers.

    He said: “The NCDC feels the Bill, as drafted, gives excessive powers to the Director General of the organisation.”

    Ihekweazu re-echoed the observations of other health stakeholders that the Bill does not meet human rights stipulations enshrined in the Constitution.

    “The Control of Infectious Diseases Bill is the first concrete effort by the legislature to address these problems and is, therefore, a step in the right direction.

    “The Bill is laudable for recognising the need to rapidly strengthen the existing system for managing public health emergences,” he said.

    Also, the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) and Health Minister Dr. Osagie Ehanire, differed on Thursday on the Bill.

    The minister and the council expressed their observations during the concluding part of the public hearing on the Bill at the National Assembly.

    The two-day hearing on the contentious Bill was held by the Joint Committees of Justice, Health Services and Health Institutions.

    While NIREC supported the legislation, saying there are gaps in the laws on infectious diseases in the country, Ehanire noted that another law was unnecessary.

    The minister said he would prefer the Bill to be subsumed in the NCDC Amendment Act and the Quarantine Amendment Act.

    In a presentation by its Executive Secretary, Prof. Cornelius Omonokhua, NIREC said: “We observed that there are provisions in the Bill which are likely to affect religious activities or sensitivities. One of provisions is that of Section 12 of the Bill which deals with disposal of dead bodies.

    “Another such provision is that of Section 19 of the Bill which deals with prohibition or restriction of meetings and gatherings. The National Assembly should avoid inserting provisions that do not take religious sensibilities or federal structure of the country into cognisance.”

    Christian Association Of Nigeria (CAN) on Thursday urged Nigerians to reject the passing into law the proposed Bill.

    It described the Bill as a conspiracy to destroy civil and human rights of Nigerians.

    CAN National Secretary Joseph Daramola addressed reporters at the Ecumenical Centre in Abuja after speaking before the Committee on Health Control of Infectious Diseases Bill 2020 during a public hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on Healthcare Services.

    He said: “CAN has reviewed the Control of Infectious Diseases Control Bill 2020 (HB 836). We have studied the Bill (in-depth) and observed that if passed for implementation, it shall trigger anarchy, disorder and insecurity. It is ‘superfluous’ but undermines every other authority in the Federal Republic of Nigeria (The President, state governors and the likes). It will make the Legislature that enacted the law become irrelevant towards implementation and control.”

    “If passed into law, it will violate the supremacy of 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, with multiple ultra vires contraventions, vide Section 1(1) and (3) of the Constitution. The Bill is gross infringement and multiple violations of Citizens’ Fundamental Human Rights making it supra-constitutional entity.”