MINISTER OF HEALTH, FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA
Mekdes Daba was appointed Minister of Health in February 2024. Prior to her appointment as Minister, she was an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
With more than 14 years of experience working in clinical practice and academics, Dr Daba was recently Team Lead in the Deputy Director General’s Office of the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva. She was President and Honorary Secretary of the Ethiopian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the recipient of a FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) 2021 women's award.
Dr Daba was formerly Managing Director at the Centre for International Reproductive Health Training, and has served as Chair and member of the civil society advisory group of UN Women Ethiopia; member of the technical advisory group of WHO AFRO; country representative of the East, Central and Southern Africa College of Obstetrics and Gynecology; and member of the FIGO Committee on Reproductive Medicine, Endocrinology and Infertility (REI).
Dr Daba is the first female Family Planning and Reproductive Health sub-specialist in Ethiopia. She completed a medical undergraduate degree at Hawassa University, a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Addis Ababa University, an FP fellowship at St Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, and a post-doctoral fellowship at WHO.
Dr Daba is passionate about evidence-based decision making and an advocate for gender equality, universal health coverage, community involvement, family planning and women’s empowerment, and is dedicated to serving children, women, and girls who have missed essential health service including lifesaving vaccines.
Last updated: 10 Jun 2024