Rudi Eggers

Dr Rudolf (“Rudi”) Eggers is a public health physician from South Africa, where he obtained his medical degree and post-graduate specialization in public health, epidemiology, disease control and health administration and financing from the University of Pretoria. In addition, he has postgraduate diplomas in health administration and financing and in occupational health.

Rudi has been the Director for Integrated Health Services in the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters since September 2021. Before this, he was the World Health Organization Representative to Kenya since 1st September 2016. In this role, he represents the World

Health Organization (WHO) in Kenya, under its mandate of providing support to all aspects of health advancement through the Government of Kenya. During the COVID-19 response activities in Kenya, he has actively led the WHO engagement with the Kenyan government to counter this pandemic.

Before his appointment as WHO Representative in Kenya, he was the WHO team leader for routine immunization and immunization systems strengthening at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland for eleven years, where he developed the global strategies for routine immunization, and actively participated in the global immunization partnerships focused on immunization system strengthening, including the Global Vaccine Action Plan development and Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (Gavi).

He has strong regional and intercountry experience in the immunization programme, having worked in East Africa (based in Nairobi, Kenya) as WHO Intercountry Coordinator for Immunization for six years. In this role, he provided technical support to East African countries in all aspects of the immunization and disease surveillance programmes, including the support to routine immunization programme management and capacity building, mass vaccination campaigns, introductions of new vaccines and the establishment and maintenance of programme monitoring and disease surveillance systems. Before joining WHO in 1999, he was a national immunization programme manager in South Africa and worked as a medical epidemiologist in the national Department of Health in South Africa.

While his initial interest focused on immunization programme management and epidemiology, his experience in WHO at the global level expanded this interest into the development and attainment of universal health coverage (UHC) in Kenya strengthening and maintenance of quality health systems as the foundation of the delivery of health services. In this, he is convinced that the leadership of national governments is paramount to success and that there are few investments more worthwhile than investing in the health of a nation.