As the intensity of the COVID-19 pandemic began to wane earlier this year, the African continent’s coordinating body for public health emergencies went through a leadership shuffle.
The founding director of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. John Nkengasong stepped down in May and his deputy, Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma took over the reins as acting director.
In an interview with Devex, Ouma talked about the path that led him to Africa CDC, saying he is devoted to putting control in the hands of African nations to ensure their own populations are healthy — in many ways shaking up the status quo. But he said that his team has faced pushback in doing this.