P. Sarojini
New York, USA (CWBN)_ Anil Soni, an Indian-born global health specialist, has been elected the first Chief Executive Officer of the recently founded ‘The WHO Foundation’, which partners with the World Health Organization to solve the world’s most urgent health issues.
A press release by the foundation said, “Mr Soni will assume his role as The WHO Foundation’s inaugural Chief Executive Officer on January 1 next year. In his new role, Mr Soni will accelerate the Foundation’s work to invest in innovative, evidence-based initiatives that support WHO in delivering on its mission to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all”.
In May 2020, the WHO Foundation, an international grant-making organization based in Geneva, was founded to collaborate together with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the global health sector to solve the most urgent global health issues in the world. Mr. Soni from the multinational healthcare firm Viatris, where he has worked as the Head of Global Infectious Diseases, joined the WHO Foundation.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General, related Mr Soni to a proven innovator who has spent more than two decades of his career in serving populations afflicted by HIV/AIDS and other contagious diseases.
Professor Thomas Zeltner, Founder and Chairman of the Board of the WHO Foundation, claimed that Mr Soni is a dynamic leader with extensive expertise in all facets of global public health. Mr Zeltner said, “From his work at Viatris where he has led the development and introduction of medicines to treat HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, to his leadership of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and his time at the Global Fund (to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria), he has demonstrated his ability to work across public, private, and nonprofit sectors and build successful new organisations from the ground up”.
The WHO Foundation said Mr. Soni is a seasoned global health expert bringing over two decades of his expertise in the public, corporate, and non-profit sectors to improve healthcare coverage in low- and middle-income countries.
The foundation said, “In addition to advisory roles with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the MDG Health Alliance, Soni joins the WHO Foundation with a strong track record of mobilising resources and advocating for global health priorities, as demonstrated through his leadership of the Friends of the Global Fight in the United States”.
In the early years of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Mr Soni was closely involved, working as the Executive Director’s Assistant from 2002-2004 and then as the Acting Executive Director of Friends of the Global Fight from 2004-2005. He was the CEO of the Clinton Patient Access Program, where he served from 2005-2010, and managed the organization’s dramatic growth.
