Kufuor appoints Prof. Dodoo as Acting CEO of Foundation
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor, Chairman of the John A. Kufuor Foundation, has appointed Professor Alex Nii Oto Dodoo, a Pharmacist as acting Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation.
Prof Dodoo is the Director at the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Advocacy and Training in Pharmacovigilance at the University of Ghana, Legon.
His appointment took effect from January 1, 2013.
Prof Dodoo expressed delight at his appointment and assured the former President and the Foundation’s Board of his total commitment to the job.
“I will help the Foundation to realise its objectives which are hinged on three pillars: Leadership, Governance and Development.
“Each plank on its own comes with opportunities for progress and improvement of the African situation, but at the same time it is inter-related with the others to form a critical basis for the total transformation and enhancement of life on the continent,” he noted.
Prof Dodoo’s maiden assignment is to coordinate the 2nd J.A. Kufuor Lectures, which would be delivered by Dr Ngozi Iweala-Okonjo, Finance Minister of Nigeria and Coordinating Minister of the Nigerian Economy from Friday February 22 to Saturday February 23.
This forms part of the Foundation’s Global Development Series on Democratic Governance.
Dr Iweala-Okonjo’s will speak on: “What Africa must do to own the 21st Century,” at the Accra International Conference Centre at 6:00 pm on each day.
She is expected to hold a working lunch with selected Corporate Executives at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra.
Dr Iweala-Okonjo will call on President John Dramani Mahama, Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, and Mr Seth Tekper, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning.
Prof Dodoo’s post is critical to the Foundation’s ambition to make a significant contribution to the development and welfare of Ghana and Africa and the development of robust and effective projects in collaboration with senior executives, primarily chief operating officers.
Under an initiative called the Kufuor Foundation Healthy Secrets Club (KFHSC), the Foundation aims to provide special services including employer-funded regular screening of employees to reduce the burden of the so-called non-communicable diseases like obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
KFHSC will also provide regular health advice and information for clients as well as training in health leadership and basic life skills like first aid and emergency resuscitation.
The former President believes that the development of Ghana and Africa depends on a healthy work force and takes a cue from the WHO as well as the UN which view the rise of non-communicable diseases as a serious threat to all countries.
“The Foundation will play a pivotal role in leveraging resources from employers to provide regular screening and advice to workers and will also provide support to the less fortunate in appropriate ways.
“Every life saved is precious and every Ghanaian has a role to play in the nation’s development,” Prof Dodoo said.
KFHSC has the support of global political and health leaders and will soon be launched officially.
Prof Dodoo is an Associate Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Ghana Medical School.
He is a renowned expert on vaccine and medicines safety and has held several leadership positions locally and internationally including President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana from 2008-2012.
Prof Dodoo was also the President of the Pharmacy Information Section of the International Pharmaceutical Federation which represents more than two million pharmacists worldwide.
He is the first non-European to be elected President of the International Society of Pharmacovigilance and currently serves as the Chairman of the Global Vaccine Safety Initiative of the WHO.
He is a member of the WHO Advisory Committee on the Safety of Medicinal Products.
Prof Dodoo is a prolific writer in lay and scientific journals and newspapers and regularly appears on radio and TV in Ghana on a wide range of issues.
He is the author of a book titled: Healthy Secrets – a lay person’s guide to health issues.”
Source: GNA