Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance Monday announced the appointment of Dr Muhammad Ali Pate as its new Chief Executive Officer.

A statement from the organisation said Dr Pate will be officially starting the role from August 3. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate half the world's children against some of the world's deadliest diseases.

The statement said he was selected following a yearlong recruitment process personally overseen by the Chair of the Gavi Board, Professor José Manuel Barroso, and will bring a wealth of experience to the role.

Dr Pate who served as Nigeria's Minister of State for Health between 2011 and 2013 is a proven global health leader with experience at the national and international levels.

He is a medical doctor trained in both internal medicine and infectious diseases, with an MBA from Duke University in the United States.

During his time as a minister, he led a flagship initiative to revive routine vaccinations and primary health care, chaired a presidential taskforce to eradicate polio and introduced new vaccines into the country.

The statement said Dr Pate will lead Gavi as it continues its work to support routine immunisation, outbreak response and COVID-19 vaccinations around the world.

Commenting on the appointment, Professor Barroso said: "Dr Muhammad Ali Pate stood out in a field of world-class candidates. With his knowledge and experience of both national immunization programming and international emergency response and global finance, I am confident that Gavi will continue to build on its vision and mission, as well as navigate the many challenges and opportunities we will face."

Dr Pate, whose appointment was confirmed at an extraordinary meeting of the Gavi Board, said he is deeply honoured to be joining Gavi as its incoming CEO.

He said , "Gavi is one of the most impactful organisations in global health, a testament to the great work of the Alliance partners and Secretariat staff. It will be my privilege to lead it, building on the work of Dr Seth Berkley, and continue to support countries to scale up critical routine immunisation programmes, reach more zero-dose children, expand access to new vaccines, transform primary health care systems, and help fight outbreaks and future pandemics."