Buhari approves major changes in health sector

-NACA, NHIS, NPHCDA, NCDC NIMR affected
A sweeping change has been effected in the ministry of health as President Muhammadu Buhari has replaced the leadership of most of the agencies under the ministry.
According to a statement by the spokesman of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Bolaji Adebiyi, made available to Reporters yesterday, the new helmsmen of the agencies include, Dr Sani Aliyu, Director-General, National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA); Professor Usman Yusuf, Executive Secretary, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and Professor Echezona Ezeanolu, Executive Director, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA).
Others are Dr Chikwe Adreas Ihekweazu, Director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Professor Babatunde Lawal Salako, Director-General, Nigerian Institute for Medical Research (NIMR).

The statement further disclosed that Dr Ihekweazu is currently the Managing Partner of EpiAfric, a public health consultancy firm that focuses on Africa.  He obtained his medical degree at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) in 1996 and had worked in Berlin, Germany, the United Kingdom and in South Africa before he established his consulting firm in 2014.
Dr Aliyu, the new DG, NACA is currently a Consultant in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at Cambridge University, United Kingdom.  He got his medical degree from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria in 1993.  He worked as a medical officer at the State House Medical Centre, Abuja and from there moved to Cambridge in 1998.
Dr Salako, new head of the NIMR is currently the Provost, College of Medicine at the University of Ibadan.  He graduated from the same University in 1986.  He is a fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians in both Edinburg and London.  He is also a member of an International Panel of Experts, United States Institute of Disease Control in Atlanta.
Professor Ezeanolu, new DG for NPHCDA is currently a Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA.  He got his medical degree at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) in 1995.  He did his pediatric internship and residency at the Howard University, Washington DC, USA and obtained his Fellowship in Pediatric Infectious Disease from New Jersey Medical School.
According to the statement, Professor Yusuf, who is to head NHIS, is currently a Professor of Pediatrics at St. Jude Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, United Sates of America.  He graduated in Medicine from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria and worked in the University Teaching Hospital from 1984-1989. Professor Yusuf worked in the United Kingdom from 1990-1995 from where he moved first to South Carolina, USA, where he rose to become a fellow in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology in 1998.  He is a Fellow of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the West African College of Physicians and the American Academy of Physicians.