Dr Joseph Okwororo has been a medical professional for 21 years. Specializing in epidemiology, he is the focal person for infection prevention and control (IPC) at Tanzania's Ministry of Health. He has worked in many disease outbreak responses across the African region, including Ebola, mpox and Marburg.
In February 2023, World Health Organization (WHO), in partnership with Tanzania's Ministry of Health and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, trained a cohort of 150 public health experts to respond to health emergencies and humanitarian crises within 24 to 48 hours from the time of an incident. Dr Okwororo was a member of this cohort, and it was not long before he was called to put his training to use.