WHO names Sir Jeremy Farrar as its new chief scientist: WHO has announced that Dr. Jeremy Farrar will take over as its new Chief Scientist. As of right now, Dr. Farrar is the Director of the Wellcome Trust. He will join WHO in the second quarter of 2023.As WHO’s Chief Scientist, Dr Farrar will oversee the Science Division, bringing together the best brains in science and innovation from around the world to develop and deliver high quality health services to the people who need them most, no matter who they are and where they live.
December 2022 Current Affairs Quiz
About the Dr Farrar:
Dr Farrar is a clinician scientist who, before joining Wellcome in 2013, spent 17 years as Director of the Clinical Research Unit at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Viet Nam where his research interests were in global health with a focus on emerging infectious diseases. Dr Farrar is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences UK, European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO), the National Academies USA and a Fellow of The Royal Society.
Other appointment:
- Dr Amelia Latu Afuhaamango Tuipulotu will become WHO’s Chief Nursing Officer. Dr. Tuipulotu, who was formerly Tonga’s Chief Nursing Officer and Minister for Health, will join WHO in the first quarter of 2023.
- As WHO’s Chief Nursing Officer, Dr Tuipulotu will champion, nurture and support nurses and midwives to ensure that their skills and experience are being well-utilized to strengthen health systems and to bolster their critical role in bringing patients, communities and national health systems closer together.
- Dr. Tuipulotu was appointed as the Kingdom of Tonga’s first female minister of health in 2019 and held the position until December 2021. She worked as Tonga’s chief nursing officer from 2014 to 2019. She previously held the position of Director of Nursing at Vaiola Hospital, the primary referral facility for the nation. She was the first Tongan to be awarded a nursing doctorate. At the University of Sydney, she was appointed Honorary Adjunct Associate Professor in 2019.
- From May 2020 to December 2022, Dr Tuipulotu was a member of the WHO Executive Board; she was elected EB Rapporteur in 2020.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- World Health Organization Director-General: Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus;
- World Health Organization Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland;
- World Health Organization Founded: 7 April 1948.
