Congolese Jean Kaseya Becomes First DG of Africa CDC

By Adedapo Adesanya

A Congolese national, Dr Jean Kaseya, has been appointed the first director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

He is a medical doctor with over two decades of experience in public health, working at both international institutions and the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

His candidacy was approved by African heads of state in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the African Union summit over the weekend.

He joins Africa CDC at a moment of transition after African heads of state voted to allow the agency to transition from a specialized technical institute of the African Union into a public health agency last year.

According to them, this gives it more authority, flexibility, and speed in responding to public health emergencies.

Due to this transition, Dr Kaseya will take on the role of director general, whereas the previous head of Africa CDC was a director. This will give him more power with the expectation of less internal AU bureaucracy to navigate.

He will report to the AU’s chairperson and have the power to convene heads of state on issues of public health, which was not a power invested in a director.

His task is to lead the agency in its quest to ensure global health security for populations across Africa. This includes strengthening disease surveillance, working with countries to strengthen health systems, and responding to health emergencies.

Dr Kaseya’s prior roles include nine years with UNICEF, two years with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, as well as work with the World Health Organization and DRC government, which included chief routine immunization officer and senior adviser to the president.

He recently worked with the Clinton Health Access Initiative, where he served as senior country director for DRC and global team lead for work on the African Health Diagnostics Platform with the European Investment Bank.

The recruitment process has been ongoing for about a year and included a call for applications, interviews with finalists, and a subcommittee making a recommendation of their chosen candidate to the AU assembly of heads of state, who then ratified the subcommittee’s selection.