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In memoriam
Dr Joel Breman
1936–2024
It is with heavy hearts that we report the passing of Dr Joel Breman, the late chairman of the International Commission for the Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradication (ICCDE), on 6 April 2024.
A graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles, United States of America, Dr Breman earned his medical degree at the University of Southern California in 1965 and a Diploma in Tropical Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 1971. His outstanding leadership and rich medical career at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States National Institutes of Health included experiences in mass vaccination and outbreak investigation of smallpox (Burkina Faso and Guinea), certification of smallpox eradication, pioneering investigation and control of the world’s first outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in 1976 (Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), promoting research and training in malaria, and certification of dracunculiasis (Guinea-worm disease) eradication. The author of numerous medical publications, he served as the elected president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 2020.
Dr Breman was one of the original 12 members of the ICCDE, which was established by WHO under the chairmanship of Dr Abdulrahman Al-Awadi of Kuwait in May 1995; he succeeded Dr Al-Awadi as chair in July 2019. His vigorous support of the ICCDE included serving as a leader of several International Certification Teams (ICTs) that visited Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya and Niger as well as other countries to assess their preparedness for certification of eradication. As ICCDE chair, he employed all his accumulated public health experience, wisdom and deep understanding of infectious diseases, as well as his calm demeanour, patience and warm humour.
We extend our profound condolences to his family.
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