Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • NPR

    This Nigerian doctor has a tough new job: Stopping the next pandemic before it strikes

    The World Health Organization has created a Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, who heads the group, talks about the challenges that lie ahead.
    by Joanne Silberner Jan 27, 2022 4 minutes
    Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu is the head of the World Health Organization's newly created Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. "We have to get better at convincing leaders to use the data we provide and not their political instinct or whatever else their decisions are based on. And that's not easy," he says.

    Chikwe Ihekweazu has taken on one of the toughest jobs in global health — leader of the new World Health Organization Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence.

    The Hub was created last fall to collect, analyze and share data on emerging diseases like COVID-19. The goal is to improve WHO's ability "to forecast, detect, assess and respond to outbreaks that threaten people worldwide," says Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO's Health Emergency Programme.

    Ihekweazu, son of a Nigerian physician and a German professor, is the former head of Nigeria's Centre for Disease Control, a job he got a couple of years in Nature described as "a knack for gliding between cultures and pushing people to cooperate for the common good."

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from NPR

    NPR2 min read
    Mystik Dan Wins The Kentucky Derby By A Nose
    In a close finish, Mystik Dan won the Kentucky Derby by a horse's nostril over Sierra Leone. Contenders waited with bated breath in the seconds before the official decision was made. The thoroughbred had entered the race with 18-1 odds — a longshot c
    NPR4 min read
    'Zillow Gone Wild' Brings Wacky Real Estate Listings To HGTV
    Zillow Gone Wild started in 2020 as an Instagram account devoted to eccentric property listings. The show focuses on homes that defy everyday expectations in some way.
    NPR4 min read
    Cicadas Are Back On The Menu. One Chef Shares His Dish Ideas — And An Easy Recipe
    The cicadas are coming! And so are some new flavor profiles. This spring, the bugs of two broods, the 13-year Brood XIX and the 17-year Brood XIII, will crawl from the ground simultaneously across the eastern and southern parts of the United States.

    Related Books & Audiobooks