Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma
Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma currently serves as the first Deputy Director at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) - a specialised agency of the African Union (AU). In this capacity, he works closely with governments and other partners to safeguard the health and wellbeing of African nations.
Dr. Ogwell is a well-respected expert in public health with over 25 years of experience in different settings ranging from the national government, non-governmental organisations to the United Nations system and the AU.
His expertise includes:
• Health emergencies including response to disease threats
• Preventing and controlling non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including mental health
• Influencing health policy
• Practicing global health diplomacy
Originally from Kenya, Dr. Ogwell walked the first steps of his international leader’s journey back home, founding both the Office for International Health Relations and the department for NCDs at the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kenya. With a decade of civil service, he is well versed in supporting governments achieve desirable public health outcomes, particularly in resource-constrained settings.
Internationally, Dr. Ogwell is recognised for leading the negotiations for the Tobacco Control Treaty, contributing to the implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) particularly in the African continent. He was also one of the pioneers of the intergovernmental working group on Public Health, Innovation, and Intellectual Property in Africa. Dr. Ogwell is thus a pan Africanist at heart and a firm believer in the power of leveraging international experience to find local solutions tailored to local challenges.
Dr. Ogwell is an alumnus of the University of Nairobi School Of Public Health and the Center for International Health at the University of Bergen.
