6 October 2016 – The World Health Organization congratulates Dr Mahmoud M. Fikri on his nomination as Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region during the 63rd Regional Committee, which has just concluded in Cairo, Egypt.
The nomination will be submitted to WHO’s Executive Board which meets in January 2017 when the election for the Regional Director will be conducted. Once officially elected, the new Regional Director will take office on 1 February 2017.
Currently, Dr Fikri is adviser to the Minister of Health of United Arab Emirates, and was previously the Assistant-Undersecretary for Preventive Medicine and Health Policies Affairs in the Ministry (1995–2013). He served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the WHO Centre for Health Development, “WHO Kobe Centre”, Japan, and a Member of the Advisory Board of the Gulf Health Council for Cooperation Council States (1996–2005). He was also a member of WHO's Executive Board from 1997 to 2000.
Dr Fikri graduated in medicine and surgery from the University of Ain Shams, Egypt in 1979. He obtained a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, in the United Kingdom, in 1984. He was a member of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians in the UK, in 2000, and holder of a PHD in Medicine from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Carol Devila, Romania.
