Biography

Ephrem T. Lemango

Associate Director, Immunization

Ephrem T. Lemango, Associate Director, Immunization

Full credit must be given.

Dr. Ephrem T. Lemango took up his position as the Associate Director of Immunization at UNICEF HQ in June 2021. He oversees the immunization and vaccines related work of UNICEF spanning across seven regions and over 130 countries. He comes with more than 15 years of national and international experience in immunization, maternal and child health, primary health care and socio-economic sectors, of which more than a decade is in senior leadership roles.

Prior to joining UNICEF, Dr. Lemango served as the Regional Immunization and Primary Health Care focal point for WHO-AFRO, and worked with the Mastercard Foundation as adviser for Health Programmes. Dr. Lemango was the Director of Maternal, Child Health and Nutrition program of the Ministry of Health and the Executive Director for the International Institute for Primary Health Care in Ethiopia, where he led the introduction and implementation of innovative initiatives that enabled the country to continue its success of improving maternal and child health. Dr. Lemango contributed to the advancement of immunization as a member of the Regional Immunization Technical Advisory Group (RITAG) of the WHO Regional Office for Africa and the Global Equity Reference Group for Immunization.

Beyond the health sector, he worked with the private sector and financial institutions to address socio-economic needs of young people when he was serving as a founding Commissioner of the Jobs Creation Commission (JCC) of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Dr. Lemango was as an Assistant Professor in Health Management and Policy in Mekelle University, Ethiopia and also briefly served as a visiting Scientist in Harvard School of Public Health and Bergen University, researching primary health care and community health systems.

Dr. Lemango earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from Addis Ababa University and Master’s degree in Health Management, Planning and Policy from University of Leeds. He also holds a certificate in Medical Education from Cardiff University.

He is a national of Ethiopia, and speaks English, Amharic, and Tigrigna.

Image release – credit: © UNICEF/UN0629989/McIlwaine. UNICEF photographs are available for use by bona fide news media organizations as part of reports or feature stories on UNICEF. Release permission is hereby granted for this purpose on the following conditions: Image content may not be changed by digital or any other means, except cropping. Image may not be archived in any format or distributed to a third party by any non-UNICEF entity. No other rights than those specified are either granted or implied. Thank you for your interest in UNICEF.