About the WHO Nigeria Country Office
The WHO Nigeria Country Office works towards the attainment of the highest sustainable level of health by all people living in Nigeria through collaboration with the government and other partners in health development.
Structure
The main WHO Country Office is located in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). In addition, WHO has 37 offices in each of the 36 states of the country and the FCT which provide technical support to States and Local Government Areas (LGAs). This network of WHO Offices has enabled the Organisation to be timely responsive to health needs across the Federation which has also contributed to improvement of collaboration with partners and other stakeholders.
The WHO Representative provides leadership on the overall direction of WHO core operations in Nigeria while ensuring that the enabling functions requisite to supporting this are in place and fully functional.
WHO Country Representative
Doctor Walter Kazadi Mulombo is the WHO Country Representative and Head of Mission to Nigeria since June 2020. He is a longstanding and well-respected WHO international expert.
Dr Mulombo is a public health epidemiologist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo with over 30 years of progressive experience in clinical practice, emergency management, management of primary health care, health diplomacy, health policy dialogue, governance, and coordination, as well as implementation, particularly in fragile, conflict and violence affected and resource constrained settings.
He has a track record of scientific writing, with several publications in peer-reviewed journals, in addition to presentations at international scientific conferences.
Dr Mulombo held several senior international positions in both English and French speaking countries, including as WHO Representative to Burundi; Coordinator of the WHO Emergency Response to Artemisinin Resistance/Malaria Elimination; WHO Scientist Malaria & NTDs in Papua New Guinea; and Policy Advisor, Gates Malaria Partnership under the London School of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene.
He is currently a Fellow of the African Institute of Public Health Professionals, and a Member of the American Society of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He holds an MSc degree in Public Health from the London School of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, a certificate in International Applied Epidemiology from Emory University/US CDC Atlanta.
Dr Mulombo carries with him, expertise in the emergency management and management of primary health care, an important attribute in the Nigerian context with numerous multi hazard emergencies, and PHC as the bedrock of the National Health Policy and National Strategic Health Development Plan II in support of Universal Health Coverage and Health-related SDGs