Githinji Gitahi is a Kenyan

medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

who serves as the Global Chief Executive Officer of Amref Health Africa as well a former co-chair of the UHC2030 Steering Committee. In July 2021, he was appointed as a Commissioner in the Africa COVID-19 Commission.

Early life and education

Githinji was born on 7 August 1970 in Othaya,

Nyeri County Nyeri County is a county located in the central region of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Nyeri. It has a population of 759,164 and an area of 2361 km2. It is currently under the leadership of H.E. Governor Mutahi Kahiga. Other gove ...

, Kenya. In 1996, he graduated from University of Nairobi with a Bachelor of Medicine and

surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

and a Masters degree of Business Administration in Marketing from United States International University (on going). He holds a Certificate for Strategic Perspective for Non Profit Management from Harvard University.

Career

Gitahi has worked both in public and private sector in various positions such as a medical officer and Quality Manager at Avenue Group (1996-2000), as a Medical Services Manager at Madison Insurance Limited (2000-2001), as a medical Medical Marketing Manager and Group Product Manager for Panadol and Hedex at

Glaxo SmithKline GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the tent ...

(2001-2004), as a Marketing Manager at Glaxo SmithKline East Africa (2005-2006) as the Head of Marketing Expert Relations at Glaxo SmithKline Sub-Saharan Africa and Middle East (October 2006-August 2007). From August 2006 to 2009, Gitahi was the Managing Director for Monitor Publications Limited in Uganda as well as General Manager for Marketing and Circulation in East Africa for the Nation Media Group(August 2009-December 2011). Between March 2008 to December 2001, he held senior positions at GlaxoSmithKline and worked at the Avenue Group. Gitahi currently serves as Global Chief Executive Officer of Amref Health Africa since June 2015. He is co-chair of the UHC2030 Steering Committee. He has presented as a speaker at medical conferences both inside and outside Africa such as Health Systems Global Symposium 2018, and Health & Climate Change conference 2019. In 2023, United Nations Secretary-General

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Socia ...

appointed Gitahi as one of 22 member of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement's lead group.

Other activities

International organizations

* World Health Organization, Member of the Community Health Worker Hub *

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is a public health agency of the African Union to support the public health initiatives of member states and strengthen the capacity of their health institutions to deal with dis ...

(Africa CDC), Member of the Governing Board, Member of the Private Sector Advisory Board * Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Member of the Board and Scientific Advisory Committee (since 2022)https://www.pulselive.co.ke/lifestyle/careers/amref-ceo-appointed-to-global-body-tasked-with-preventing-pandemics/

Corporate boards

* Standard Group, Member of the Board of Directors

Non-profit organizations

* Safaricom Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees *

WomenLift Health WomenLift Health is a nonprofit organization aimed at working with partners around the world to accelerate the advancement of talented women into senior leadership by investing in mid-career women and influencing the environments in which they live ...

, Member of the Global Advisory Board

Honors

On 12 December 2018, Githinji was awarded a presidential commendation of Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear in recognition for his contribution to the health sector at Amref Health Africa.

Personal life

Githinji is a brother to Stephen Kiama the Vice Chancellor at University of Nairobi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gihati, Githinji Living people Kenyan chief executives 20th-century Kenyan physicians 21st-century Kenyan physicians People from Nairobi Swahili people 1970 births