Akihiro Seita

Dr Akihiro Seita is the Director of the Health Department at UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Special Representative at UNRWA since November 2010. As the director of health, Dr Seita is the leader in health reform. He successfully converted UNRWA health services to implement best practices based on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) including the introduction of a person-centered family medicine approach, electronic medical records (e-health), and mental health care. Dr Seita is currently the Chair of the UNRWA COVID-19 Coordination Body since February 2020. He takes the lead in developing shared vision and strategy in UNRWA’s overall response to COVID-19 pandemic, and effectively communicate and guide UNRWA directors from all five fields and from different departments to implement and monitor a high-quality response. Dr Seita assumes number of leadership roles in the senior management in UNRWA, including Chair of Advisory Committee on Human Resources (ACHR) to supervise senior staff recruitment process since December 2019, and Interim Delegate for Decision Review (or management review) since January 2020. This reflects Dr Seita’s commitment to quality work and integrity. Dr Seita is the innovator in health systems. He led the introduction of smartphone applications on maternal and child health and non-communicable diseases. He is a strong advocate for Palestine refugees. He works very closely with the Lancet (global scientific journal) and international partners to organize international events and writes peer review journal articles. Prior to UNRWA, Dr Seita was the coordinator for tuberculosis (TB), AIDS and malaria at WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (WHO/EMRO) in Cairo, Egypt since 2006. He worked for the promotion of TB, AIDS and malaria care in the 22 countries of the WHO Region, and extensively collaborated with the Global Fund against AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM), overseeing more than 50 GFATM grants. Dr Seita started working at WHO/EMRO as TB medical officer in 1996 and then became the TB regional adviser from 2000 till he assumed the role of coordinator from 2006. Dr Seita has had a distinguished scientific career including articles in peer review journal articles like The Lancet, chapters in the health reform book published in the Harvard School of Public Health, as well as books published in Japan. He received several international awards like the Princess Chichibu Memorial TB Award for Global Contribution in 2014 and Karl Styblo Public Health Award in 2002.