{
  "abstract": "Dr Matshidiso Moeti formally assumed office as the regional director of the WHO African Region in January 2015, a uniquely challenging period. The region was transiting from a failed attempt to attain the Millennium Development Goals (2000–2015) to implementing programmes aimed at achieving the aspirational Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Perhaps more challenging was the fact that 2015 marked the peak of a devastating and unprecedented outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone from 2014 to 2016. With a total of 28 616 cases and 11 310 deaths reported in the three countries, it set a record of being the single largest EVD epidemic in the world. 1 An additional 36 cases and 15 deaths were reported in Mali, Nigeria (with secondary local transmission), Senegal, Italy, Spain, the UK and the USA.1 By May 2015, more than 240 health workers had died of Ebola, further weakening the health workforce.2 This EVD outbreak exposed fault lines in the region’s pervasively weak health system, particularly in its capacity for timely emergency preparedness and response (EPR).",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo"
      ],
      "name": "Joseph W Cabore"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo"
      ],
      "name": "Alex N Gasasira"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "World Health Organization, Monrovia, Liberia"
      ],
      "name": "Olushayo Oluseun Olu"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo",
        "Department of Sociology/Anthropology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu, Nigeria"
      ],
      "name": "Joseph Okeibunor"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Emergency Preparedness and Response, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland"
      ],
      "name": "Chikwe Ihekweazu"
    }
  ],
  "title": "A decade of transformative leadership in the WHO African Region (2015–2024): progress, lingering challenges, and a call to action to define a strong public health agenda",
  "uid": "97f708c7-c020-5b11-8851-3f81e7241ae5"
}