CAPRISA’s Director is appointed Special Advisor on pandemics to the Director-General of the WHO
Professor Salim Abdool Karim has been appointed Special Adviser to the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). In this role as Special Advisor to Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus, Abdool Karim will provide advice on pandemic preparedness and on high-priority scientific issues and advances in science and technology that could directly impact global health.
He will provide support to the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin. The “Berlin Hub” is a major new initiative of the WHO, with funding support of the German government, to build the capacity to use surveillance and research data to better understand pandemics and how they may arise, spread and be controlled. It is a far-sighted initiative, which is led by Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, that provides a key element of global pandemic preparedness. Abdool Karim is also a member of the WHO Science Council.