AMREF CEO appointed to global body tasked with preventing pandemics

Dr Githinji Gitahi is the only Kenyan to be appointed to the Board and Scientific Advisory of Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), body that aims to stop future epidemics by developing new vaccines.

Dr Gitahi, a passionate advocate for pro-poor Universal Health Coverage, has been the Group CEO of Amref Health Africa since 2015. Githinji is part of a team of a squad of five public health and scientific leaders joining the board.

The team which comprises members from five different countries tasked with providing critical oversight of and advice to CEPI.

Chair of CEPI, Jane Halton welcomed the new five members by explaining they have been brought in to help CEPI better prepare for the next health crisis.

“These appointments will provide invaluable knowledge and new ways of thinking to further enrich CEPI’s discussions as we push our ambitious plan forward,” said Halton.

(From L-R) Githinji Gitahi, director of Amref Health Africa, Nailantei Leng'ete Massai activist and Alvaro Rengifo Abbad, president of Amref Health Spain walk on the stage after receiving the 2018 Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation during the Princess of Asturias Awards ceremony at the Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo, on October 19, 2018. (Photo by MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP via Getty Images) Pulse Live Kenya

The new appointments to the CEPI Board are:

Dr L. Rizka Andalucia, Director-General for Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices at the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, as Board voting member (investor)
Cyrus Ardalan, Chairman of OakNorth Bank, Trustee of the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), and a senior adviser at Alvarez and Marsal, as Board voting member (independent)
Dr Githinji Gitahi, Group Chief Executive Officer, Amref Health Africa, as Board voting member (independent)
Professor Samba Sow, Director General of the Center for Vaccine Development – Mali (CVD-Mali) and former Minister of Health for Mali, as Board voting member (independent)
Anita Zaidi, Director of the Vaccine Development, Surveillance, and Enteric and Diarrheal Diseases programs and President, Gender Equality Division, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (investor)

The appointments were approved during CEPI’s most recent Board Meeting, held on April 25-26 2022, in Bergen, Norway.