Ala Abdessaheb al-Alwan (born 1949) was Minister of Education in the cabinet appointed by the

Interim Iraq Governing Council The Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) was the provisional government of Iraq from 13 July 2003 to 1 June 2004. It was established by and served under the United States-led Coalition Provisional Authority The Coalition Provisional Authority ( ...

in September 2003, and Minister of Health in the

Iraqi Interim Government The Iraqi Interim Government was created by the United States and its coalition allies as a caretaker government to govern Iraq until the drafting of the new constitution following the National Assembly election conducted on January 30, 2005 ...

. In September 2019, Alwan officially resigned as the Health Minister of Iraq, following alleged political pressure and defamatory attempts against him. It was the second resignation that Prime Minister

Adil Abdul-Mahdi Adil Abdul-Mahdi al-Muntafiki (, born 1 January 1942) is an Iraqi politician who served as Prime Minister of Iraq from October 2018 until May 2020. Abdul-Mahdi is an economist and was one of the vice presidents of Iraq from 2005 to 2011. He fo ...

received from him after March.

Education and career

Alwan graduated in Medicine from the

University of Alexandria Alexandria University () is a public university in Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1938 as a satellite of Fouad University (the name of which was later changed to Cairo University), becoming an independent entity in 1942. It was known as ...

. He practiced medicine in Scotland and obtained his postgraduate training and qualifications in the United Kingdom. Following his return to Iraq, he held several positions in clinical and academic medicine and public health. He was Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine,

Al-Mustansiriya University Al-Mustansiriyah University () is a public university located in Baghdad, Iraq. It traces its origin back to 1227. The modern form of the university was founded in 1963. History The original Mustansiriya Madrasah was established in 1227 (or 12 ...

, Baghdad. Alwan left Iraq in 2005 back to the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

, where he held several leading positions at the World Health Organization based in

Geneva, Switzerland Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic and Ca ...

including Assistant Director General for noncommunicable diseases and mental health, and Representative of the Director General for emergencies and health action in crises. In October 2011, he was elected by Member States for the position of Regional Director of the World Health Organization Region of the Eastern Mediterranean (covering Arab countries, Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan). His appointment was confirmed by the WHO Executive Board in January 2012. After his retirement, Alwan served on the selection committee that chose Peter Sands to succeed

Mark Dybul Mark R. Dybul (born September 23, 1963) is an American diplomat, physician and medical researcher. He served as the executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria from 2012 until 2017. From 2021 to Oct 2024, he was t ...

as executive director of the

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (or simply the Global Fund) is an international financing and partnership organization that aims to "attract, leverage and invest additional resources to end the epidemics of HIV/AIDS, tu ...

(GFATM) in 2017. He was subsequently appointed by WHO Director-General

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (, sometimes spelled ; born 3 March 1965) is an Ethiopian public health official, researcher, diplomat, and the DGWHO, Director-General of the World Health Organization since 2017. He is the first African to become W ...

to serve on the Independent High-level Commission on Non-Communicable Diseases from 2018 until 2019.

Other activities

World Health Summit The World Health Summit is an international conference that has been held in Berlin every October since 2009. It has developed into one of the world's leading global health conferences. It was held for the first time on the occasion of the 300th a ...

(WHS), Member of the Council * '' DCP3'', Member of the Advisory Committee to the Editors * '' Lancet''-O'Neill Institute Georgetown University Commission on Global Health and Law, Member

Education and career

Other activities

References

Further reading