By Ndidi Chukwu
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of new Director Generals for five strategic health institutions in the country, the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) National Agency for Control of AIDS (NACA), Nigerian Institute for Medical Research, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
To head the Centre for Disease Control is Dr. Chikwe Andreas Ihekweazu, who until his appointment, was the managing partner at EpiAfric, a public health consultancy firm that focuses on Africa.
Dr. Sani Aliyu, a consultant in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at Cambridge University, UK is to head the affairs of NACA.
The president also approved Professor Babatunde Salako as the head of the Nigerian Institute for Medical Research. He was the Provost, College of Medicine at the University of Ibadan before his new appointment.
Professor Echezona Ezeanolue succeeded Dr. Ado Mohammed at the NPHCDA. He was a professor of Paediatrics and Public Health at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA.
The NHIS will now be headed by Professor Usman Yusuf, who until his appointment, was a professor of Paediatrics at St. Jude Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
According to presidency sources all the appointment are with immediate effect.
