E37 - Chikwe and Vivianne Ihekweazu - Global health leadership during crises, politics and public health

In this episode we sat down with Chikwe and Vivianne Ihekweazu to talk about their public health careers and the experiences shared in their new book called 'An Imperfect Storm: A memoir of a pandemic and the coming of age of a Nigerian institution."

Vivianne Ihekweazu is currently the Managing Director of Nigeria Health Watch. A health communication and advocacy organisation based in Nigeria that advocates for improved health and access to health care. Vivianne has over 20 years experience in health communication and has built her skillset over a range of leading communications and research agencies across Europe and Africa in the development, media and real estate sectors. 

She has an MBA from the Gordon Institute of Business Science, an MSc in Development economic and is currently an African Public Health Leaders Fellow at Chatham House. Vivianne’s work has ranged across a number of key areas in global health including maternal, newborn and child health as well as immunisation and health security. She played a leading role in the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria - supporting the Nigeria centre for Disease Control in public health communication and developing guidelines.

Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu is the Assistant Director-General for the Division of Health Emergency Intelligence and Surveillance Systems in the WHO Emergencies Programme. He leads the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence - a global collaboration that aims to address future pandemics with better access to data, better analytical capacities and better tools for decision making.

Chikwe has over 25 years experience in epidemiology and public health and served as the Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control between 2016 and 2021. He has developed skills across a number of senior public health and leadership positions including at the South African Institute for Communicable Diseases, the UK’s former Health Protection Agency and Germany’s Robert Koch Institute. He has also completed the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training as well as the UK public health speciality training programme in 2008.

CHAPTERS

(00:00) Teaser and introductions

(03:08) The story of the book

(07:29) Early years at the Nigeria CDC

(11:28) Motivating staff during challenging times

(21:00) Inspirational stories of staff

(23:18) Public health communication during uncertainty

(28:40) Public trust and infodemic management

(31:56) Politics and public health

(35:43) Personal toll

(42:23) A love letter to Nigeria

(46:45) Brain drain and global equity

(49:30) Parachute research from high-income countries

(52:10) Career tips