President Samia Suluhu Hassan has appointed Professor Tumaini Joseph Nagu, a specialist in internal medicine, to be the Chief Medical Officer.
Prof Nagu’s appointment is effective since October 19, said a statement released by Statehouse on Saturday October 22.
As Chief Medical Officer, she will be tasked by the Permanent Secretary to oversee the Health Ministry’s divisions and units that are headed by directors. Her work also entails overseeing the roles of Regional Medical Officers across the country.
At the time of her appointment, Prof Nagu was the Acting Head of Department-Internal Medicine at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences. She previously worked as the Head of Department of Internal Medicine at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH).
Nagu, a dedicated physician, with a huge portfolio in research and the treatment of Pulmonology and Infectious Diseases, has also worked as Senior Public Health Monitoring and Evaluation Consultant: Local funding agent (LFA) for Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for Tanzania and Zanzibar Portfolios from 2008.
According to Statehouse, Prof Nagu now takes over as CMO, replacing Dr Aifello Sichwale who “will be assigned other duties.”
Education
Prof Nagu holds a Ph.D in Medical Science from Karolinska Institutet – Stockholm, Sweden which she obtained in December 2017.
In 2008, she graduated with a Masters of Medicine – Internal Medicine from the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), however, she also obtained a Masters of Public Health Methodology (Majoring in Statistic and Epidemiology) from Université Libre De Bruxelles (ULB) in July 2003.
She obtained her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Dar es Salaam in 2002 and worked as Medical Officer for years before embarking on post-graduate studies.
