Dr. Michael Ryan, the Co Sligo native who is the Executive Director of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Health Emergencies Programme, will be exiting his executive management position on June 16.
Dr. Ryan’s exit and the reduction of the executive management team are part of cost-saving measures by the WHO.
“The loss of US funding, combined with reductions in official development assistance by some other countries, mean we are facing a salary gap for the next biennium of more than US$ 500 million,” WHO’s Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said yesterday, Wednesday, May 14.
He added that the WHO is facing “an anticipated budget gap of more than US$ 1.7 billion.”
Dr. Tedros said it was previously decided that a new structure would reduce senior management from 14 to 7, and the number of departments from 76 to 34.
On Wednesday, he described the reduction of the executive management team as an “extremely difficult and painful decision.”
Replacing Dr. Ryan as executive director of the Health Emergencies Programme is Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Dr. Tedros said yesterday.
In a separate statement, Dr. Tedros expressed his “sincere appreciation for the remarkable contributions of those colleagues” who are leaving their executive management positions on June 16.
Of Dr. Ryan, Dr. Tedros said: “Mike planned to leave over two years ago but stayed on at my request, and I am very thankful for that.
“His steady presence has been instrumental during our toughest times, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“His dedication to emergency response has changed how we work, helping us face unprecedented challenges with compassion and effectiveness.
“I also appreciate his leadership during the prioritization process in these difficult times.”
On Thursday, Dr. David Nabarro, a former WHO special envoy on COVID-19, discussed his friend Dr. Ryan’s exit on RTÉ Radio 1’s Today with Claire Byrne programme.
“He’s just one of these people who is emblematic of global health, and for him to be leaving is a bit of a shock,” Dr. Nabarro said.
“He is quite a unique person. He’s not only technically brilliant when it comes to dealing with infectious disease, but he’s also a man with heart and soul, and it’s that that most of us really love him for.”
Dr. Nabarro said Dr. Ryan knows “how to connect with people.”
“Mike was the guy who would be able to just calm people and make them feel good, because he’s such an authentic person.”
Who is Dr. Mike Ryan?
Dr. Michael Ryan is the outgoing Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme.
A brief bio from WHO headquarters says: “As Executive Director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, Dr. Michael Ryan leads WHO’s response to disease outbreaks, humanitarian crises and other public health emergencies.
“At the forefront of managing acute risks to global health for nearly 25 years, Dr. Ryan first joined WHO in 1996, within a newly established unit responding to emerging and epidemic disease threats.
“He has worked in conflict-affected countries across the world and has led WHO’s operational responses to high impact events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the SARS epidemic.
“In addition he served as a Senior Advisor on Polio Eradication for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative from 2013 to 2017, deploying to countries in the Middle East.
“Dr. Ryan is a founding member of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), which has aided the response to hundreds of disease outbreaks around the world.
“Dr. Ryan completed his medical training at the National University of Ireland, Galway, has a Master in Public Health from University College, Dublin, Ireland, and undertook specialist training in communicable disease control at the Health Protection Agency in London, United Kingdom and the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training.”
Dr. Ryan received the Bar of Ireland Human Rights Award for 2020, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Irish Red Cross in 2020, and the Romero Award from Trócaire in 2021. He was also among the 14 recipients of its Presidential Distinguished Service Award for 2020.
December 18, 2023: President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins receives the Director General of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, and WHO Executive Director Dr. Mike Ryan at Aras an Uachtarain. (RollingNews.ie)
Dr. Mike Ryan’s strong words on Gaza
The announcement that Dr. Ryan is exiting the WHO leadership team comes two weeks after the Irish epidemiologist went viral for his comments on Gaza while speaking in Geneva during a WHO press conference on global health issues.
“We are breaking the bodies and the minds of the children of Gaza,” Dr. Ryan said on May 1.
“We are starving the children of Gaza, because if we don’t do something about it, we are complicit in what is happening before our very eyes.
“We are complicit. We are causing this, you, us, and everyone who does nothing about it. It’s horrific.
“The children of Gaza should not have to pay the price, as all children have done in the past, for the sins of anyone around them. This just has to stop.
“Any right-thinking human being will stand up and say, this just must stop.
“As a doctor, as a physician, as someone watching more than 1,000 children without limbs, thousands of children with spinal cord injuries and severe head injuries from which they’ll never recover, thousands and thousands of children with severe psychological distress that they may never recover from.
“We are watching this unfold before our very eyes, and we’re not doing anything about it.
“And as a physician, I’m angry. I’m angry with myself that I’m not doing enough. I’m angry with everyone here. I’m angry with you. I’m angry with the world.
“This should not be happening. It cannot continue. We have to stop.”
He continued: “This is an abomination. It’s an abomination.
“We have to ask ourselves the question, how much blood is enough to satisfy whatever the political objectives are of any regime?”
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