10 things to know about Special Adviser on Health, Dr Salma Anas-Kolo

By Asmau Ahmad

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed Dr. Salma Ibrahim Anas as his new Special Adviser on Health.

Her appointment and that of others were announced in a statement signed by the State House Director of Information, Abiodun Oladunjoye.

Here are 10 things to know about her

1. Salma Anas-Kolo was born on March 23, 1966.

• Her father, Ibrahim Anas, is a retired police officer from the Silumthla ward of Biu Local Government Area. He joined politics in 1977 after retirement. He served as chairman of Biu LGA and later became the deputy governor of Borno State from 1979 to 1983. He thereafter, served on the boards of several government agencies and parastatals, until his demise on the 8th of December 2008.

• Anas-Kolo is a former Borno State commissioner for health between 2011 and 2015. She served as commissioner during Governor Kashim Shettima’s first term.

• Before her appointment as commissioner for health in Borno, she worked at various levels and locations in Nigeria, outside the country and in several United Nations agencies like the United Nations Population Fund and the World Health Organisation.

• She has over 25 years of experience in Health Sector Development. She has a wealth of experience in health sector policy formulation, strategic development, resource mobilisation, and implementation of various health programmes at international, regional, and national levels.

• Her technical skills and expertise cut across Health Systems Strengthening with particular reference to Primary Health Care. She has a passion for improving access to quality Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child Adolescent, and Elderly Health plus Nutrition (RMNCAEH+N) services, including Sexual and Reproductive Rights, and Gender-Based Violence. She has vast experience both in the public and the private sector.

• In the private sector, Dr. Salma has worked as the Assistant Country Representative/Head of Reproductive Health/HIV; United Nations Funds for Population Activities, Nigeria; National Team Leader for the DFID-funded MNCH2 Project, Deputy Country Director of Strengthening Nigeria’s Response on HIV/AIDS (SNR)/DFID, and Family Health International.

• She was been the Director/Head of Special Projects & National Coordinator of Health Sector Humanitarian Crisis Response at the Federal Ministry of Health.

• Until her appointment as Special Adviser to President Tinubu, she was the Director, of Family Health Services at the FMOH, where she led key Divisions, including Reproductive Health, Child Health and Gender, Adolescent, School Health, Elderly Care (GASHE), Nutrition and Health Promotion Divisions.

1. She is married to Hashim Muhammad Kolo, who retired from the Nigerian Air Force as an Air Commodore in 2013, and they have five children.