Soumya Swaminathan Appointed WHO's Deputy Director General

Soumya Swaminathan has become the WHO’s deputy director general. This is the second highest position at the United Nations. Swaminathan will replace Dr Anarfi Asamoa-Baah of Ghana.

She is one of the three daughters of Dr M S Swaminathan, who is known as the father of India’s green revolution.

Swaminathan has worked with Unicef from 2009 to 2011 as coordinator of the Unicef/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) in Geneva.

She was part of several WHO and global advisory bodies and committees, including the WHO expert panel to review global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property, the strategic and technical advisory group of the global TB department at the WHO, and co-chair of the Lancet Commission on TB. She was also the director of the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, Chennai

“The team represents 14 countries, including all WHO regions, and is more than 60% women, reflecting my deep-held belief that we need top talent, gender equity, and a geographically diverse set of perspectives to fulfil our mission to keep the world safe,” WHO’s Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Swaminathan did her MBBS and MD from the Armed Forces Medical College and the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences.

Her term will be for five years, and she will hold her office in Geneva. She will look over all the operations of the WHO.

She is a globally recognised researcher on TB and HIV, and has received over nine awards in the field of medicine. Swaminathan has been responsible for increasing the focus on tuberculosis research and created a consortium for tuberculosis research in India called “India TB Research and Development Corporation”.

Congratulations to this wonderful woman who is making her country proud! 

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Picture Credit: DNA