Dr. Mengistu Asnake Kibret, Integrated Family Health Program (IFHP) Chief of Party and Country Representative of Pathfinder International-Ethiopia, has been elected President of the World Federation of Public Health Associations at the 48th session of the WFPHA General Assembly held in Geneva, Switzerland.
The WFPHA General Assembly was held on the eve of the Sixty-seventh World Health Assembly that will open on May 19 2014 where ministers and senior officials responsible for health from 194 Member States will be deliberating on health policies and actions. While accepting his new role as President, Dr. Mengistu thanked the outgoing President Dr. James Chauvin of Canada for the excellent leadership he provided to the World Federation between 2012 and 2014. He also welcomed the newly elected vice president Dr. Michael Moore who is the former minister of health of Australia and current Chief Executive Officer of the Public Health Association of Australia.
Dr. Mengistu pledged to work with everyone and move the federation to another level of achievement during his tenure of leadership. He noted that his election to the Presidency comes at a very exciting time when extensive consultations are taking place around the world to accelerate progress on the health related MDGs (1, 4, 5, and 6), and to charting the fundamental role of health in the post-2015 development agenda and the future sustainable development goals (SDGs).
He also noted that WFPHA is preparing for the 14th world congress in public health that will be held in about nine months time, and a major milestone for WFPHA will be the 50th anniversary of our federation established as a voice for public health in just 3 years time. He said he will work tirelessly to strengthen the different working groups and committees under WFPHA and intend to establish a new focus area dealing with women’s and children issue. He will also focus on strengthening regional public health associations by entering into memorandum of understanding with new ones and continue the implementation of existing ones.
He would also like to see enhanced working relationship and partnership between public health associations and MOH, as well as other sectors with significant influence and impact on health and development. WFPHA was established in 1967 in Geneva, Switzerland. It is composed of multidisciplinary national public health associations and has an official relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO).
It collaborates with the WHO to advance the field of public health through the promotion of pro-health policies, strategies and best practices around the world.
Source Press Release
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