Please join us for the PSI satellite seminar on Wednesday, 27 November, 17:00 – 19:00 at West Wing Lecture Theatre, St Cross College. We are delighted to host Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the head of the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin, Germany. Dr Chikwe will share his experience as a frontline policymaker in Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The discussion, including Q&A, will start from 17:00 to 18:00. There will be book signing, networking opportunities, and informal discussions from 18:00 to 19:00.

Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic reinforced the importance of National Public Health Institutes in national, regional and international health security. The Bill for an Act to establish the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) was signed into law in November 2018, less than two years before the COVID-19 pandemic. This talk will cover the experience of a frontline policymaker navigating and laying a solid foundation for a burgeoning public health institution with a limited budget and human resources. The discussion will draw on various topics, including Nigeria’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic regarding disease surveillance, coordination of testing and diagnostics, the crucial role of public engagement and risk communication in empowering communities, health systems strengthening, and international collaboration.

Dr Chikwe recently co-authored a book, “An Imperfect Storm: A Pandemic and the Coming of Age of a Nigerian Institution”, which provides a compelling narrative of Nigeria’s COVID-19 response, a story of resilience and hope in the face of a global crisis. A few copies of the book will be available for sale after the seminar. You can also order your copy on Amazon here – www.amazon.com/dp/978604889X.

Biography
Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu is an Assistant Director General and Deputy Executive Director of the Health Emergencies Programme at the World Health Organization.

Before this, he was the first Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. He has held leadership positions in several national public health agencies, including, the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases, the UK’s Health Protection Agency, and Germany’s Robert Koch Institute.

Dr. Ihekweazu is a medical doctor, with further specialisation in infectious disease epidemiology and public health, holding a Master’s in Public Health, a Fellowship of the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training and a Fellowship of the UK’s Faculty of Public Health. He has 200 publications in medical peer review journals mostly focused on the epidemiology of infectious diseases.

He is the recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Science awarded by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK, and the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) awarded by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for his service.