WHO appoints new Director for the Department of Control of NTDs

Dr Lorenzo Savioli, is retiring at the end of April 2014. His successor has been named as Dr Dirk Engels.

Director of the Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Lorenzo Savioli, is retiring at the end of April 2014. His successor has been named as Dr Dirk Engels.

Dr Savioli joined the WHO in 1991 as the medical officer in charge of the Programme on Intestinal Parasitic Infections. He was appointed Chief of the Schistosomiasis and Intestinal Parasites Unit in 1996 and became the Coordinator of the Strategy Development and Monitoring for Parasitic Diseases and of the Vector Control Unit in 1999. In 2005, he was appointed Director of the newly-constituted Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) of the WHO.

Under Dr Savioli's 9 year leadership the WHO has exponentially expanded support for prevention, control, elimination and eradication programmes, and developed norms and standards on a number of key public health issues, including a global strategy on Preventive Anthelminthic Chemotherapy that is the base of large scale interventions that annually target over 700 million children and adults in endemic areas. During Dr Savioli’s tenure the Department published the WHO’s first report on NTDs in October 2010, a roadmap for implementation in January 2012, and it’s second report on NTDs in January 2013. A major landmark event overseen by Dr Savioli was the World Health Assembly’s adoption of a comprehensive resolution on all 17 NTDs in May 2013.

Dr Dirk Engels will take up the position of Director on 1 May 2014 and lead the department to achieving the WHO Roadmap’s targets. “Dr Engels is fully aware of the challenges in overcoming neglected tropical diseases” said Dr Lorenzo Savioli. “His appointment as Director means a continuation of the excellent work accomplished over the past decade and an expansion of the global community of partners and stakeholders.”

Dr Engels joined WHO in 1998 as a Medical Officer and became Coordinator of the Preventive Chemotherapy and Transmission Control Unit of the Department of Control of NTDs of WHO in 2005. It is from this post that he moves on to become Director of the Department. Both Dr Savioli and Dr Engels have been involved with SCI since it was established and we all look forward to working with Dr Engels in the years to come.