Dr Ifedayo Morayo Adetifa is the New NCDC Director-General
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Dr Ifedayo Morayo Adetifa as the new Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Ifedayo Adetifa will succeed Chikwe Ihekweazu, former NCDC – DG, who was recently appointed to dual roles of Assistant Director-General of the global health body – World Health Organisation (WHO), in charge of Health Emergency Intelligence in Berlin, and as Head of the Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence Hub in Germany.
According to a statement issued by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity) on Monday, September 6, the president has also approved the setting up of a Health Sector Reform Committee.
The committee, headed by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, as chairman, is expected to kick start the development and implementation of a programme for Nigeria in collaboration with the state governments and the FCT administration.
Ifedayo Adetifa obtained a bachelor’s degree in Medicine from the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, and completed his residency training in Paediatrics and Child Health at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. He also holds a master’s and a doctorate in Epidemiology from the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and received the Fellowship of the West Africa College of Physicians in Paediatrics in 2005.
Until his appointment, Ifedayo Adetifa was an Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Adetifa’s medical portfolio also includes serving as a Clinical Epidemiologist at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kiliufi, Kenya.
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Adetifa’s research interests are in vaccine impact/effectiveness studies, innovative approaches/surveillance tools for monitoring vaccination, Tuberculosis Epidemiology, and evidence synthesis including systematic reviews.
The newly appointed has received several accolades for his works in the medical scene including the MRC/DFID African Research Leader Fellowship receives in 2018.
Adetifa 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 Doctor’s vaccine policy advisory roles include membership of the Kenyan National Immunisation Coordination Committee, the WHO AFRO Regional Immunisation Technical Advisory Group (RITAG), the Advisory Group of the WHO Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme, and the WHO Technical Advisory Group on RSV vaccines.
Adetifa’s vision as a paediatrician and infectious diseases epidemiologist is to see equitable and effective protection against vaccine-preventable diseases in the low- and middle-income countries of tropical Africa.
Congratulations Dr Ifedayo Adetifa on your new appointment.