The U.S. Senate has confirmed Dr. John Nkengasong as the U.S. global AIDS coordinator, which will include leadership of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief — the U.S. global HIV initiative. The Cameroonian virologist is the first person born on the African continent to take on the role. He currently serves as the director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
U.S. President Joe Biden nominated him for the role last September. There has been a gap in permanent leadership since Dr. Deborah Birx left in 2020. Dr. Angeli Achrekar served as interim director.
“This confirmation is long overdue. COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the HIV pandemic, all while PEPFAR, one of our most powerful weapons against it, has remained without permanent leadership in its longest juncture ever,” said Mitchell Warren, executive director of AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, which is working to develop and deliver HIV prevention options, in a press statement.
Before leading Africa CDC, Nkengasong worked at PEPFAR on strengthening laboratory capacity across Africa. His program was the largest and most funded program within the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s HIV division.
PEPFAR, which has an annual budget of $6 billion and has programming in over 50 countries, was launched in 2003 by U.S. President George W. Bush. It is estimated to have saved over 20 million lives since its creation and is a program that has received “consistent bipartisan support” in the U.S.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said last year that the COVID-19 pandemic “had a devastating impact on the fight against HIV, TB and malaria. … key programmatic results have declined for the first time in the history of the Global Fund.” This includes significant declines in HIV testing and prevention services, as well as a drop in efforts to prevent the transmission of the virus from mother to child.
“It’s no surprise that we’ve seen progress against AIDS reverse for the first time in 20 years. We are very hopeful, though, that with John’s leadership, vision and experience, we can maintain the urgency and impact in ending the AIDS pandemic, continue responding to COVID, and build the sustainable health infrastructure that we so desperately need,” Warren added.
Africa CDC, which was launched in 2017, has risen to prominence due to its leadership in managing the continent’s COVID-19 response.
Before the confirmation, Nkengasong wrote in an email to Devex last week that the “African Union Commission has requested that the process of my replacement begins in order to minimize a long transition.” This will include accepting applications for the position and interviewing and ranking of the candidates by Africa CDC’s governing board. The AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat will make the final selection.
A source familiar with the matter told Devex that in the interim before a director general is chosen to lead Africa CDC, the deputy director Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma will head the agency.
About the author
Sara Jervingsarajerving
Sara Jerving is a Senior Reporter at Devex, where she covers global health. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, VICE News, and Bloomberg News among others. Sara holds a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she was a Lorana Sullivan fellow. She was a finalist for One World Media's Digital Media Award in 2021; a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists in 2018; and she was part of a VICE News Tonight on HBO team that received an Emmy nomination in 2018. She received the Philip Greer Memorial Award from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2014.
