Yoshihiro Takashima
I am now working as Guest Professor at the Osaka University Center for Infectious Disease
Education and Research, Specially-Appointed Professor at the Osaka University Center for
Advanced Modalities and Drug Delivery System, Visiting Professor at the Hiroshima
University Department of Epidemiology, Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, andVisiting Researcher at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases Center for Field
Epidemic Intelligence, Research and Professional Development.
In the last 30 years and now, my research interests have been and are: (1) vaccinepreventable diseases; (2) disease eradication and elimination (polio, measles, rubella,maternal and neonatal tetanus, etc.); (3) application of infectious diseases epidemiology todevelopment, implementation and evaluation of health policies, programmes andstrategies; (4) prevention, preparedness, response and containment of diseases resurgences
and outbreaks; (5) disease surveillance; (6) epidemic intelligence; and (7) preparedness forpandemic.
I graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, Osaka University (Osaka, Japan) in 1991 (MD),the Harvard School of Public Health (Boston, USA) in 1997 (MPH) and the Osaka
University Graduate School of Medicine (Osaka, Japan) in 1999 (PhD). Major study fociwere: (1) international public health; (2) urban public health in developing countries; (3)polio eradication; and (4) measles elimination. In 1990s, I worked as surgeon andemergency physician at the Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital (Kobe, Japan) andseveral local hospitals in Japan in 1991 to 1996 and worked as medical officer at theNational Center for Global Health and Medicine (Tokyo, Japan) in 1997 to 2000.
In 2000, I began my career with the World Health Organization (WHO). From 2000 to 2003,
I was the Regional Coordinator for the WHO's Emergency and Humanitarian Action
programme for the Western Pacific (Manila, Philippines). From 2003 to 2009, I was Medical
Officer of WHO China (Beijing, China), responsible for supporting China in measles
elimination, accelerated hepatitis B control and immunization safety. I worked with theChinese Ministry of Health in developing and implementing the National Plan of Action
for Measles Elimination in China, 2006-2012, which enabled China to mark the lowest
measles incidence in 2012.
From 2009 to 2023, I worked with the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) /Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunization (VDI) at the WHO Regional Office for theWestern Pacific (Manila, Philippines) as: Regional Focal Point for Immunization SystemStrengthening (2009-2013); Regional Focal Point for Measles and Rubella Elimination (20142017); and the Group Lead for Accelerated Diseases Control and Acting Coordinator ofWHO's Expanded Programme on Immunization for the Western Pacific Region (20172018). During these periods, I led my team in developing the Regional Framework forImplementation of Global Vaccine Action Plan in the Western Pacific and the Regional
Strategy and Plan of Action for Measles and Rubella Elimination in the Western Pacific,
both of which were endorsed by the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in
2014 and 2017, respectively.
From 2018 to 2023, I lead the WHO’s programme on Vaccine-Preventable Diseases andImmunization in the Western Pacific Region (WPR) as Coordinator in: (1) supportingWHO’s Member States in the WPR to (i) sustain the status of polio eradication in theRegion and respond to multiple cVDPV outbreaks (e.g. Papua New Guinea (2018),Philippines (2019) and Malaysia (2020)), (ii) achieve and sustain measles and rubellaelimination, including prevention of and response to measles resurgence and outbreaks,and (iii) accelerate hepatitis B control and maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination; (2)developing and implementing the Regional Strategic Framework for Vaccine-Preventable
Diseases and Immunization in the Western Pacific 2021-2030, which was endorsed by theWHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in 2020; and (3) supporting WHO’s
Member States in the WPR to plan and implement vaccination responses to the COVID-19
pandemic (2020-2023).