Nine months after John Nkengasong left Africa CDC to head PEPFAR, the African Union has now elected a Director General for the continent’s leading public health institution who has the task of finding new ways to engage continental and global leaders in Africa’s public health challenges in the post-COVID era.

A new Director-General has been appointed to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). He is 53-year old Jean Kaseya, a Democratic Republic of Congo national who also has a track record as a seasoned international health professional, with past stints at the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Clinton Health Access Initiative.

Kaseya immediately underlined his intention to work closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) on challenges that range from expanding universal health coverage in Africa, to strengthening local manufacturing capacity as well as disease surveillance in the post-COVID period.