JamiiForums
JF Official Account
- Nov 9, 2006
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As a young doctor working in Mwanza, Tanzania, in the 1990s, Eliud Wandwalo came face to face with the devastating effects of tuberculosis. Those were the dark days, in Eliuds memory. HIV infection was sharply on the rise across Africa, and tuberculosis was rapidly infecting people whose immune systems had been compromised by HIV. TB was suddenly killing people in droves. In just three years, between 1994 and 1996, the TB burden increased fivefold in Mwanza, Tanzanias second-largest city. It was there and then that Eliud made a decision to dedicate his life to helping people fight the deadly effects of TB. To have greater impact, he left clinical practice to work in public health, where he believed he could reach people across the world with TB control messaging.
Now working as a Senior Specialist for TB at the Global Fund, Eliud provides leadership and strategic guidance on technical aspects of TB. He also supports the Global Fund country teams on technical issues regarding tuberculosis investments. We are at a unique time in TB control, says Eliud. With availability of new technology to diagnose TB and advances in implementation, we will change the trajectory of the disease. He adds: My goal is to use my field-based experience and knowledge to support the Global Funds investment in TB to save more lives.
Previously, Eliud worked for Management Sciences for Health (MSH) as the Principal Technical Advisor with special focus on the African region. Before that, Eliud was TB/HIV coordinator for the Ministry of Health in Tanzania and a medical doctor in Mwanza. Now 43, he earned his medical education at University of Dar es Salaam and did his Masters and PhD studies at the University of Bergen in Norway. He is married and has a 13-year-old daughter.
