Bruce Aylward is a Canadian physician and epidemiologist. He is the Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). He also heads the team of the WHO-China joint mission on COVID-19. Dr. Bruce Aylward is an expert in infectious diseases and has a long history of working in large-scale infectious disease and public health outbreaks and humanitarian emergencies.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Bruce Aylward was born in 1962 (age 58 years; as of 2020) in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. Aylward grew up in Atlantic Canada. He studied medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN). By 1984, Aylward had decided to become a surgeon and moved to Uganda through a school program where he worked in a hospital for six months. He received his MD from Memorial University in 1985. After graduation, he studied internal medicine at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She then obtained a Diploma in Tropical Medicine from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Later, he earned a master’s degree in public health at Johns Hopkins University.
Bruce Aylward in graduation gown
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 10″
Hair Color: Extra Light Ash Blonde
Eye color: Moss green
Family and ethnicity
Bruce Aylward was raised by a Haligonian woman and her lawyer husband; He was one of six children raised by them. Bruce Aylward is married to Elisa Repetti, an Italian cancer researcher. Their marriage took place in Geneva. Dr. Aylward met Alyssa Repiti at Johns Hopkins. The couple live in Geneva with their son Nico, born in 2000.
livelihood
In 1992, Bruce Aylward joined the World Health Organization (WHO) and led its various programs such as communicable disease control, immunization and polio eradication in various countries, including the Western Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, Central and Southeast Asia. North Africa.
Bruce Aylward addressing a conference at WHO
In 1993, when the global polio eradication campaign was in its fifth year, Dr. Aylward arrived in Phnom Penh where his task was to organize Cambodia’s first mass vaccination campaign. Speaking about Aylward, Chris Maher, a WHO epidemiologist who worked with Aylward in Phnom Penh, says,
Cambodia was a very chaotic place. A lot of people were killed by the Khmer Rouge and it was still a very active conflict. Aylward showed up in Cambodia and hit the ground running “running everywhere”. She’s like the Energizer Bunny. Someone presses the on button and it keeps rattling around until the battery dies. He’s capable of working very, very long hours a day, and still produce quality work.”
Chris Maher (left) and his colleagues in Cambodia in the early 1990s
In 1998, when WHO asked Aylward to return to Geneva and contribute to the global polio eradication initiative, led by the United Nations health agency, UNICEF, with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Rotary International; Aylward agreed to his terms. Talking about this in an interview, Aylward said,
There was no way the world would stop broadcasting by the end of 2000. But you know, you can’t say that. “My goal was to ensure that every country in the world had started an eradication program by the year 2000.”
Bruce Aylward vaccinating a child in Angola in 2002
Dr. Aylward successfully led the polio eradication campaign and in 1999, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo became the last countries to join the polio fight. To make the polio eradication program successful, he expanded his staff in Geneva from four people to dozens, and his field team from about 80 to 2,500 members. For decades, with their practical approach, Dr. Aylward and his team brought polio to its knees. On the fight against polio, Dr. Aylward says,
It’s about equity. It is about social justice and ensuring that every child has a chance for a better future. The day you walk away is the day you say some kids don’t deserve it.”
Bruce Aylward addressing a seminar on polio eradication
From 2013 to 2015, she worked with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to lead the newly established Change Management Unit, and before that, she led the inter-agency process that resulted in the first System-wide activation procedures for major infectious disease emergencies.
Bruce Aylward during his tenure at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Serving as the Special Representative of the Director-General for the Ebola Response (from September 2014 to July 2016), he provided strategic and technical leadership to the United Nations Emergency Ebola Response (UNMEER).
Bruce Aylward working with the UN health agency on the Ebola response
Working with WHO Preparedness, Readiness and Response to Humanitarian Emergencies (2011 to 2016), Dr. Aylward led a comprehensive restructuring of WHO’s work in humanitarian emergencies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bruce Aylward led the WHO team in China.
Bruce Aylward at the press conference of the WHO-China Joint Mission on COVID-19
Speaking about COVID-19 in an interview, Dr. Bruce Aylward said,
Never underestimate a new disease, there are a lot of unknowns. We know it will kill young people, it will make young people sick in droves. You have to respect it.”
Taiwan Skype interview controversy
During an interview via Skype with Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) journalist Yvonne Tong on March 28, 2020, she dodged a question about Taiwan’s membership in the WHO. When the journalist tried to repeat the question, he asked him to go ahead and disconnected the call. When the reporter called him back, he formally ended the interview. Following the interview, Dr. Aylward and WHO faced accusations of Chinese government influence from around the world, and WHO was accused of “carrying China water”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLvg0KnTKhU
Called by the Canadian Parliament
In April 2020, Dr. Bruce Aylward received a summons from the Health Committee of the Parliament of Canada to attend his appearance in Ottawa. The Commons Health Committee of the Parliament of Canada voted unanimously to subpoena Dr. Aylward to appear before the committee. Speaking about it, NDP health critic Don Davis said,
Obviously he has been keen, and WHO has also been keen, for Dr Aylward to be available to the media to answer questions, so I see no principled reason why they would not do so. [him] This committee is available to answer such questions.”
Awards and Honors
- The Globe and Mail and the Dominion Institute recognized him as one of Canada’s Nation Builders of 2002.
- In 2002, Dr. Aylward became the first winner of the Memorial University Alumni Award for outstanding professional achievement.
Facts/General Knowledge
- He credits Dr. Ian Bomar, former dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland, for sparking his interest in infectious diseases.
- He dated his Italian girlfriend Elisa Repetti for years in at least 20 different countries before marrying him.
- While leading the worldwide polio eradication campaign, Dr. Aylward involved a number of innovative initiatives involving young MBA graduates and communication experts. He also brought on board several major funders such as the Gates Foundation and the UN Foundation.
- Dr. Aylward led the largest reform in WHO’s 68-year history when he led the design and implementation of far-reaching reforms of WHO’s work in emergencies (from December 2015 to July 2016), culminating in the launch of a new WHO Occurred in the form. Health emergency program.
- In addition to being a physician and epidemiologist, Dr. Bruce Aylward has written over 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles and book chapters.
- During the Ebola response, his speech at TEDx became very popular.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was Bruce Aylward who came up with the idea of ”isolation, contact tracing, and testing” to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn