President Bola Tinubu has appointed Dr. Temitope Ilori as the new Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), making her the first female to hold the position.
Dr. Ilori formally took her job on February 22, 2024, for a four-year tenure, succeeding Dr. Gambo Aliyu, who served as DG from June 2019 to February 2024.
Toyin Aderibigbe, NACA’s Head of Public Relations and Protocol, announced the announcement in a press release issued today.
An appointment
Prior to her appointment, Dr. Ilori was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Community Medicine at the University of Ibadan and a Consultant Family Physician at the University College Hospital in Ibadan.
Dr. Ilori has a strong academic background, having earned her MBBS degree from the University of Ibadan and completed her residency training at the University College Hospital in Ibadan.
In April 2012, she was named the finest graduating Fellow of the Faculty of Family Medicine, West African College of Physicians, and received the famous A.O. Senbanjo Prize.
She also holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Ibadan.
Her scholarly pursuits continue as she works towards her PhD at the Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, which is funded by the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa.
Dr. Ilori’s research interests include primary care, immunisation, public health nutrition, non-communicable diseases, and women and children’s health.
She has made major contributions to the scientific community, having published more than 30 articles in peer-reviewed journals.
Furthermore, Dr. Ilori has actively participated in policy formulation and strategy development. From 2011 until 2014, she was the Commissioner for Health in Osun State, Nigeria, and chaired the Osun State Agency on HIV/AIDS Control and the Osun State Technical Working Group on Immunisation.
Dr. Ilori’s appointment is expected to inject new energy and experience into the fight against HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, as she leads NACA in its critical goal to manage and reduce the disease’s impact across the country.
