Jean Marie Okwo Bele

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Jean Marie Okwo-Bele (born on 23 February 1957 in Banningville, Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo)) is a Congolese physician, epidemiologist, and public health expert at the World Health Organization (WHO). He was appointed Director of the Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals^[1] of the WHO in 2004.

Early life and education[]

Okwo-Bele trained as a physician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), receiving his medical degree in 1981 from the University of Zaire Kinshasa Campus (now University of Kinshasa). He went on to train as an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health (now the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health) in 1986.^{[citation needed]}

Career[]

From 1982 to 1989, Okwo-Bele served as an Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) Manager, within the EPI-Combatting Child Communicable Diseases division of the Department of Health of the DRC. He joined the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO/AFRO) in 1989 as a medical officer, and epidemiologist. He went on to become Regional Adviser at WHO/AFRO, in charge of the Vaccine and Preventable Disease Unit, in 1993.

In 2002, Okwo Bele left WHO to join another UN Agency, UNICEF, where he held the position of Chief of Immunization Activities, at the UNICEF Headquarters in New York City. He held this position until he was called back to WHO in 2004 to serve as the new Director of the Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. In this position, he has responsibility for strategic direction, coordination and management of the WHO normative and programmatic immunization activities, ranging from vaccine research, vaccine quality and safety to immunization policy and immunization services delivery.^[1]

See also[]

• GAVI Alliance
• Helene Mambu

References[]