Two of the main leaders of the fight against Covid-19 within the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as the former French Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn, will leave their functions at the WHO next week , according to a letter from the head of the organization read by AFP on Tuesday.
Indian pediatrician and clinician Soumya Swaminathan is stepping down as WHO's chief scientist, while Brazil's Mariangela Simao is stepping down as deputy director-general for access to medicines.
Redesign
They were among senior UN health agency officials who led global efforts to coordinate the response to the pandemic.
Former French health minister Agnès Buzyn, presidential envoy for multilateral affairs, and former British minister Jane Ellison, executive director for external affairs and governance, will also leave the organization.
The departures were announced in a letter to colleagues from WHO President Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as part of a reshuffle of his leadership team after he was re-elected for a second five-year term in May.
“I would like to express my appreciation and respect to the members of my management team whose term ends on November 30,”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in his letter.
No announcement has yet been made regarding the new appointments.