THE incoming regional director of the World Health Organization in Africa, Tanzania’s Dr Faustine Ndugulile, has died, just three months after he was elected to the position.
Ndugulile, a 55-year-old lawmaker and a medical doctor, died on Wednesday morning in India while undergoing treatment, Tanzania’s speaker of parliament said.
He is known for having stood up to President John Magufuli at the height of the Covid pandemic in 2020, when he served as deputy health minister.
In August this year, he was elected as the WHO regional head, to take over from Botswana’s Dr Matshidiso Moeti, who has served two five-year terms.
He was due to assume the role in February next year.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday said he was “shocked and deeply saddened” by Ndugulile’s death.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu also sent her condolences to the family of the deceased lawmaker.
The reasons he was being treated have not been disclosed.
Before his election to the WHO position, Ndugulile had a distinguished career in both politics and public health.
He represented the Kigamboni constituency in Dar es Salaam as a legislator and held several key governmental positions, including deputy minister for health and communications minister.
He was appointed to the health ministry position in 2017 and stayed there until Magufuli sacked him in May 2020, at the height of the coronavirus epidemic.
No reason was given for his sacking, although media reports suggested that it was related to his stance on the fight against coronavirus in the country, which went against the president’s views.
Magufuli was a vehement coronavirus sceptic and refused to put in place measures that the rest of the world had taken to control the spread of the virus, such as wearing face masks.