Lia Tadesse Gebremedhin

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Dr. Lia Tadesse Gebremedhin is the Minister of Health of Ethiopia. She is an obstetrician and gynecologist with extensive experience in health-care leadership and hospital administration. She became the Minister of Health of Ethiopia in March, 2020 a day before the country reported the first case of COVID -19 in a population of 100 million. Her steadfast and arduous leadership in the past six months has led the coordination of various sectors to flatten the curve and overcome the challenges in Ethiopia.

Before joining the Ministry of Health as deputy Minister in Nov. 2018, Dr. Lia Tadesse was a program Director  at the University of Michigan’s Center for International Reproductive Health Training (CIRHT) in Ann Arbor, Michigan where she has established successful partnerships with several institutions, both in Ethiopia and Rwanda, to increase quality of reproductive health training and services. She has worked in government, NGOs, academia and leading grant-funded programs.

She has also successfully worked as a CEO and Vice Provost of St. Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College in Addis Ababa, leading the hospital’s services and academic reforms, including forging collaborative relationships with several national and international stakeholders. Dr Tadesse was Project Director of USAID’s Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP) at Jhpiego-Ethiopia as well. She earned her doctor of medicine and master of health care administration at Jimma University, and specialized in obstetrics and gynecology at Addis Ababa University.