Long-time polio eradicator Dr Jamal Ahmed has been officially appointed WHO Director for Polio Eradication and Chair of the GPEI Strategy Committee.

Dr Ahmed served since 2022 as Coordinator of WHO’s Africa Regional Office (AFRO) Polio Eradication Programme, based in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.  Prior to that, he worked for WHO’s polio eradication programme in Geneva as Team Lead for Surveillance, Lab and Data, and as Chair of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s (GPEI) Surveillance Group.  He has also served in the WHO Pakistan Country Office as Coordinator of the Polio Team and as the lead for the Risk Assessment and Decision Support Unit.

Before WHO, he was the Regional Surveillance Coordinator at CDC Nairobi, focusing on refugee and emergency health support across East Africa, and worked with UNHCR in Jordan and Geneva on disease detection and response. His work emphasizes strengthening surveillance, laboratory capacity, country ownership, community engagement, and the inclusion of youth and women in health initiatives.

Dr Ahmed is from Kenya and has a Doctor of Medicine and Masters in Epidemiology degrees from Turkey and the UK.

Dr Ahmed takes over this critical role in the polio eradication programme, following the sudden and tragic passing of previous director Aidan O’Leary in August 2024.

His notable expertise and experience, in particular at regional and country level, will be crucial in helping drive the partnership towards successful implementation of its strategies, to secure a lasting world free of all forms of poliovirus.