Githinji Kiama Gitahi
Githinji Kiama Gitahi is a Kenyan medical doctor who serves as the Chief Executive Director of Amref Health Africa as well as the co-chair of the UHC2030 Steering Committee. In July 2021, he was appointed as a Commissioner in the Africa COVID-19 Commission. Early life and education. Githanji was born on 7 August 1970 in Othaya Village, Nyeri County, Kenya. In 1996, he graduated from University of Nairobi with a Bachelor of Medicine and surgery and a Masters degree of Business Administration in Marketing from United States International University (on going). He holds a Certificate for  Strategic Perspective for Non Profit Management from Harvard University. Career. Githanji has worked both in public and private sector in various positions such as a medical officer and Quality Manager at Avenue Group (1996-2000), as a Medical Services Manager at Madison Insurance Limited (2000-2001), as a medical Medical Marketing Manager and Group Product Manager for Panadol and Hedex at Glaxo SmithKline(2001-2004), as a Marketing Manager at Glaxo SmithKline East Africa (2005-2006) as the Head of Marketing Expert Relations at Glaxo SmithKline Sub-Saharan Africa and Middle East (October 2006-August 2007). From August 2006 to 2009 , he served as the General Manager for Marketing and Circulation at Nation Media Group East Africa and later on was promoted to Head the Nation Media Group operations in Uganda (August 2009-December 2011). Between March 2008 to December 2001, he worked at Smile Train Africa as a Regional Director and later on was promoted to Regional Director for Africa. Dr. Githinji currently serves as the Group Chief Executive Officer of Amref Health Africa since June 2015. He is co-chair of the UHC2030 Steering Committee. He has presented at Medical conferences both inside and outside Africa like Health Systems  Global Sympousium 2018, Health & Climate Change conference 2019. Committee Member. He serves as a member of the Private Sector Advisory Board of Africa CDC and of the World Health Organization's Community Health Worker Hub. He is member of the Board of Directors of The Standard Group and holds Board member positions in Amref Health Africa. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Safaricom Foundation as well a member of the Governing Board of the Africa Centre's for Disease Control and prevention (Africa CDC). Honors. On 12 December 2018, Githinji was awarded a presidential commendation of  Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear in recognition for his contribution to the health sector at Amref Health Africa. Personal life. Githinji is the eighth born. Githanji is a brother to Stephen Kiama the Vice Chancellor at University of Nairobi.