Dr Anarfi Asamoa-Baah, Assistant Director-General of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, has been appointed Deputy Director-General of WHO by WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan.
Dr Asamoa-Baah, known as 'AB', has been instrumental in supporting the work of the Stop TB Department in his role as Assistant Director-General at WHO headquarters in Geneva.
He has been involved in many high profile issues, including supporting the implementation of the Stop TB Strategy, promoting WHO's TB/HIV policy on collaborative activities, and most recently providing strong leadership in the response to the emergence of XDR-TB, especially in southern Africa. He is also a familiar figure with the TB community through his participation in many international tuberculosis events and meetings.
Dr Asamoa-Baah, from Ghana, joined WHO in 1998 as senior policy adviser to the Director-General and became Assistant Director-General of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in October 2005.
WHO Stop TB Director, Dr Mario Raviglione, thanked Dr Asamoa-Baah for the valued input and advice that he has provided: "It has been a fulfilling and rewarding experience for everyone in Stop TB to have worked so closely with AB and we look forward to continuing to work with him in the future."
A new Assistant Director-General will be announced in the near future.