Dr Claude de Ville de Gauyet
Claude de Ville de Goyet is a medical doctor and a national of Belgium. He graduated from the University of Louvain in 1965 and completed postgraduate studies in Tropical Medicine and Public Health. He holds a B.Sc. in Operational Research and Computer Sciences from the University of South Africa.
Following six years of public health work including malaria eradication program in Africa, Dr. de Ville de Goyet joined the Disaster Epidemiology Research Center (CRED, University of Louvain, Belgium) as executive Director (1973-1977). In 1973-74, he received the first WHO fellowship on disaster management including four months study in CDC, Atlanta. He is the author of numerous publications, including the first issue of the WHO Manual on "Management of Nutritional Emergencies in Large Populations".
From 1977 to 2002, he was the director of the Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief Coordination Program of the Pan American Health Organization, regional office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). This program pioneered the development of the disaster risk management capacity of the health sector and produced landmark publication and guidelines.
Since his retirement from WHO/PAHO early 2002, he is a senior preparedness and response consultant to the UN agencies and national governments. Dr. de Ville evaluated the response to earthquakes in Iran and Morocco, to cyclones in the Caribbean and to the tsunami in Asia. He served as faculty in several international disaster management courses and developed high level simulation exercises on earthquake and avian flu pandemic.
In 2005, he received the certificate of distinction from the UN Sasakawa award for Disaster Reduction.