Dr Germain Honvo

Germain Honvo holds a PhD and a master's degree in Public Health Sciences (Epidemiology and Health Economics) from the University of Liège (Belgium), with a research focus on musculoskeletal conditions. Following his studies in Belgium, he returned to Benin to support the University of Abomey-Calavi (where he obtained an undergraduate degree in Biomedical sciences several years before), by working as a researcher and lecturer of Epidemiology and Public Health for four years. During this period, he also completed a specialized master’s degree of Pedagogy in higher education at the University of Liège.

While being in Benin, he has been appointed as a collaborator of the University of Liège, Division of Epidemiology. He was also affiliated to the WHO Collaborating Center for Epidemiology of Musculoskeletal Health and Ageing (Liège, Belgium). Prior to joining WHO, Germain contributed to the WHO Guideline on chronic primary low back pain in adults, as a member of the Guideline Development Group (GDG). He has also contributed to the WHO Clinical Consortium on Healthy Ageing (CCHA) since 2020. He was the lead author of the WHO systematic review on measurement properties of tools to assess the locomotor capacity of older persons.

In his current position as a consultant in the Ageing and Health Unit, Germain is supporting WHO in performing systematic reviews on measurement properties of tools to assess the risk of fracture in older persons, and on interventions to prevent fractures in the same population, drawing on his experience in evidence synthesis.