Ahmed Ogwell Ouma
Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma is currently the Acting Director of Africa CDC, an autonomous body of the African Union (AU). He is also the founding Deputy Director, and, in these roles, he has led the strategic work and oversight of Africa CDC. He works closely with African Union Member States and partners to deliver on the mandate of Africa CDC of preventing and controlling diseases in Africa. Ahmed has led the operations of Africa CDC during the COVID-19 pandemic, coordinating the planning, acquisition, and delivery of life-saving health products to African countries including test kits, personal protective materials, therapeutics, and vaccines.
Ouma is an accomplished international civil servant and an expert in global health. He has competency in governance in public health; partnerships and resource mobilisation; health security including health emergencies; the prevention and control of NCDs; building multi-sectoral partnerships; international co-operation across sectors; tobacco control; global health diplomacy; and development of international instruments that impact positively on public health.
He has worked globally for public health and has overseen implementation of country level policy in countries in Africa. He has been a pioneer in supporting governments in Africa to implement the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) and other international instruments for the prevention and control of NCDs. Before joining Africa CDC, Ouma was an Advisor in the Global Coordination Mechanism for NCDs in the Office of the Assistant Director-General for NCDs and Mental Health in The World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters, Geneva. Before that he was Programme Manager for Primary Prevention of NCDs and Regional Adviser for Tobacco Control at the WHO Regional Office for Africa.
At the national level, Dr. Ouma was the founding director for the NCDs department in MoH Kenya and also established the Office for International Health Relations. He has expertise in how government policy can and should respond to neglected health challenges. Having been a senior civil servant in Kenya for over a decade, he is well versed in how governments work, competence in supporting government to achieve desirable public health goals particularly in resource-poor settings. Ahmed is an alumni of the University of Nairobi and the Centre for International Health at the University of Bergen in Norway.