Dr. Ephrem Tekle Lemango

Dr. Ephrem T. Lemango took up his position as the Associate Director, Health/Immunization in UNICEF, NYHQ in June 2021. He oversees the Immunization and vaccines related work of UNICEF spanning across seven Regions and over 130 countries. He comes with more than 15 years of National and international experience in Immunization, Maternal and Child health, Primary Health Care and Socio-economic sectors, from which more than a decade is in Senior Leadership roles. Prior to joining UNICEF, Dr. Lemango served as the Regional Immunization and Primary Health Care focal for WHO-AFRO and worked with the Mastercard Foundation as adviser for Health Programmes. Dr. Lemango was the Director of Maternal, Child Health and Nutrition program of Ministry of Health and the Executive Director for the International Institute for Primary Health Care in Ethiopia, where he had led the introduction and implementation of innovative initiatives that enabled the country to continue its success of improving Maternal and Child health. Dr. Lemango contributed to the advancement of immunization as a member of the Regional Immunization Technical Advisory Group (RITAG) of World Health Organization-Regional Office for Africa and the Global Equity Reference Group for Immunization. Beyond the health sector, he worked with the private sector and financial institutions to address socio-economic needs of young people when he was serving as a founding Commissioner of the Jobs Creation Commission (JCC) of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Dr. Lemango was as an Assistant Professor in Health Management and Policy in Mekelle University, Ethiopia and briefly served as a visiting Scientist in Harvard School of Public Health and Bergen University, researching Primary Health Care and Community health systems. Dr. Lemango earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from Addis Ababa University and Master’s degree in Health Management, Planning and Policy from University of Leeds. He also holds a certificate in MedicalEducation from Cardiff University. He is a national of Ethiopia, and speaks English, Amharic, and Tigrigna.