World Health Organisation has appointed Indian-origin Anil Soni as the Chief Executive Officer for the WHO Foundation. Global health expert Soni will assume his role as its inaugural CEO on January 1 next year.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described Soni as a proven innovator in global health who has spent two decades in service of communities affected by HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.

In his new role, Soni will accelerate the Foundation's work to invest in innovative, evidence-based initiatives that support WHO in delivering on its mission to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all, the WHO Foundation stated.

He is a leader in global health who has worked for 20 years in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to expand healthcare access in low and middle-income countries. . Anil Soni will join the Foundation from Viatris where he has served as Head of Global Infectious Diseases, working across the pharmaceutical company to accelerate the availability of new and innovative treatments.

He was also closely involved in the early years of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, serving as the Advisor to the Executive Director from 2002-2004 and then as the Founding Executive Director of Friends of the Global Fight from 2004-2005. He served as the CEO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, where he worked from 2005-2010, and oversaw the rapid expansion of the organization.

Anil Soni has been a senior advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the MDG Health Alliance. He is an alumnus of McKinsey and Harvard College and serves on the board of The Marshall Project.