Cape Town - Global health authority the World Health Organization WHO on Tuesday announced the appointment of Dr Jeremy Farrar as its new Chief Scientist.
Currently, Director of the Wellcome Trust, Dr Farrar will join WHO in the second quarter of 2023, said WHO.
Dr Amelia Latu Afuhaamango Tuipulotu will become WHO's Chief Nursing Officer. She was previously Minister for Health of the Kingdom of Tonga and before that, Tonga’s Chief Nursing Officer. Dr Tuipulotu will join WHO in the first quarter of 2023.
According to WHO, The new Chief Scientist will oversee the Science Division.
Dr Farrar is a clinician scientist who, before joining Wellcome in 2013, spent 17 years as Director of the Clinical Research Unit at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Vietnam, where his research interests were in global health with a focus on emerging infectious diseases.
Dr Farrar is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences UK, the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO), the National Academies USA and a Fellow of The Royal Society.
As WHO’s Chief Nursing Officer, Dr Tuipulotu will champion, nurture and support nurses and midwives to ensure that their skills and experience are being well-utilised to strengthen health systems and bolster their critical role in bringing patients, communities and national health systems closer together.
In 2019, Dr Tuipulotu became the Kingdom of Tonga’s first female Minister for Health, serving until December 2021.
From 2014 to 2019, she served as Tonga’s Chief Nursing Officer. Previously, she was Director of Nursing at Vaiola Hospital, the country’s main referral hospital.
She was the first Tongan to receive a PhD in Nursing. In 2019, she was appointed Honorary Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Sydney.
From May 2020 to December 2022, Dr Tuipulotu was a member of the WHO Executive Board; she was elected EB Rapporteur in 2020.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that he is delighted that Jeremy and Amelia will join WHO at a critical time in global public health, when investment in both the health workforce and science is imperative to strengthening health systems and outbreak preparedness and prevention.
“As Chief Scientist, Jeremy will accelerate our efforts to ensure WHO, its Member States and our partners benefit from cutting-edge, life-saving science and innovations. As Chief Nursing officer, Amelia will ignite the all-important need not only to fill the gap in health workers worldwide but also to ensure they receive the support they need and deserve.”
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