Incoming WHO Africa chief dies at 55
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AFP) – The incoming World Health Organization’s regional director for Africa, Faustine Ndugulile, died while receiving treatment in India, Tanzania’s parliament speaker said on Wednesday.
The cause of death was not made clear for Ndugulile, an MP for a constituency in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.
The 55-year-old former Tanzanian deputy health minister was nominated as WHO Africa chief in August.
He was due to assume office in February 2025 for a five-year term.
Speaker of Tanzania’s National Assembly Tulia Ackson said she had received the news “with great sorrow” and funeral plans would be announced later.
“His death is a great loss,” she said.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was “shocked and deeply saddened” by the sudden death.
The organisation’s current Africa Regional Director Matshidiso Moeti said she was “deeply saddened and shocked” by the news.
“It’s an immense loss,” she wrote on X.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan also expressed her condolence on social media.
