Mercedes Tatay

Dr Mercedes Tatay is the International Medical Secretary of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) since February 2016. A specialist in infectious diseases and tropical medicine, Dr Tatay joined MSF in 1998 and has worked in a number of conflict and epidemic settings, including in Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Zambia, CAR, Liberia, Afghanistan, Niger, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This allowed her to develop expertise in operational management and medical programme planning in complex humanitarian emergency contexts. Dr Tatay became Head of Emergency Programs with MSF France, and from 2003 to 2007 she oversaw humanitarian interventions in Iraq, Jordan, Sudan, Chad, CAR, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Lebanon, Haiti, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Angola, DRC, Philippines and Niger among others (conflicts, epidemics and natural disasters). Later on, Dr Tatay practised as an infectious diseases physician in two university teaching hospitals infectious diseases and tropical medicine departments in France until 2015. In 2015, she worked as a consultant for WHO in infection prevention and control as well as in field coordination during the Ebola outbreak response in Sierra Leone. She also took coordination responsibilities as part of the UN Country team leadership. Her teaching experience includes clinical seminars and trainings on infectious diseases, applied epidemiology, operational management emergency response and humanitarian medicine.