President Buhari appoints new NCDC DG

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday appointed Dr. Ifedayo Morayo Adetifa as the new Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

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This appointment was confirmed in a statement by Buhari’s Special Assistant on Media & Publicity, Garba Shehu on Monday.

He stated that  Dr. Adetifa will take over from Chikwe Ihekweazu, who has been given an appointment at the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Recall that last week, the former DG, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu was appointed  as WHO assistant Director-General.

In an official letter addressed to Ihekweazu, WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, said the Nigerian is the deputy in charge of health emergency intelligence at the global health organisation.

Dr. Ifedayo is a Clinical Epidemiologist and an Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

He obtained his medical degree at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, trained in Paediatrics and Child Health at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and received the Fellowship of the West Africa College of Physicians in Paediatrics in 2005.

He studied Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and was awarded his MSc by the University of London in 2009.

He got his PhD from the University of Amsterdam in 2012 for research in Tuberculosis Epidemiology. His research interests are in vaccine impact/effectiveness studies, innovative approaches/surveillance tools for monitoring vaccination, Tuberculosis Epidemiology, and evidence synthesis including systematic reviews.
He was awarded the MRC/DFID African Research Leader Fellowship in 2018.

He is a member of the Kenyan National Immunisation Coordinating Committee, and a member of the World Health Organisation, Africa Region’s (WHO-AFRO) Regional Immunisation Technical Advisory Group.

The president has also named Dr. Adetifa as a member of his health sector reform committee.