Ahmed Darwish

WHO (Ret.)

Dr. Ahmed Ali Darwish is an internationally recognized epidemiologist with extensive experience in public health, specializing in communicable disease control and prevention. His expertise focuses on vaccine-preventable diseases and emergency response. Originally from Egypt, his early career involved roles as a medical officer in rural primary health care units and a pediatric specialist in Egypt, Zambia, and Saudi Arabia, holding credentials of DCH, MPH, and a Medical Doctorate (MD) in Public Health with a focus on epidemiology. With over three decades of professional experience, Dr. Darwish has contributed to both national and international health organizations. His roles have included WHO staff member (Medical Officer, Team Lead, and Chief of the WHO Sub-National Office in Punjab, Pakistan), UNICEF consultant, and collaborations with INGOs and governmental bodies (notably the Ministry of Health, Egypt). His work involved planning, leading, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating public health and immunization programs in the Middle East and Africa, as well as managing humanitarian aid responses to vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks in conflict areas. Currently, Dr. Darwish serves as a freelance Public Health International Consultant and was previously a member of the advisory board for the International Academy of Public Health (IAPH). In 2021, he worked as a COVAX Coordinator Consultant with UNICEF, facilitating the introduction and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines to Syria. He has been a member of the Gavi Independent Review Committee (IRC) for three years. From 2010 to 2017, he supported enhancements in the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) and vaccine-preventable disease surveillance in countries including Somalia, Sudan, Morocco, Afghanistan, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq. His role also included working with MBGF/WHO as a senior consultant to support polio outbreak response and vaccination coverage improvements in Northern Syria, based in Gaziantep, Turkey. Between 2000 and 2010, Dr. Darwish led the WHO office in Punjab, Pakistan, overseeing provincial vaccination programs in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. Prior to 2000, he was the National EPI Manager and Director of Communicable Disease Outbreak Control at the Ministry of Health, Egypt. 4o

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