Dr Yagob Yousef Al-Mazrou

Dr Al-Mazrou has been working in the immunization field for 37 years. He started his career as Director-General for Primary Health Care in the implementation of the Expanded Programme of Immunization in the 1980s in Saudi Arabia. He then became the Assistant Deputy Minister for Preventive Medicine at the Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia, and has focused on eradication activities of vaccine-preventable diseases.

He has been member of the Regional Commission for Certification of Polio Eradication since its formation in 1995, in addition to his membership of the Advisory Committee of the Horn of Africa. In the past decade, he was the Chair of Technical Advisory Groups on Polio Eradication for Egypt and Yemen. From 2001 to 2004, he served as a member of the WHO Executive Board, and from 2004-2010, he was a member of the Advisory Committee for Polio Eradication for WHO.

Dr Al-Mazrou’s research interests include prevention of vaccine-preventable diseases, particularly polio, in children of the Middle Eastern region. In 1988, he was awarded the “Jacques Parisot” Prize for research in primary health care and public health by WHO; in 1990 he was awarded the “Universal Child Immunization Commemorative Medal” by UNICEF, in recognition of his efforts in contributing to universal child immunization and in 2014 he was awarded the Dr A.T. Shousha Foundation Prize by WHO. 

Dr Al-Mazrou obtained his medical degree from Mosul Medical College in Iraq in 1971, and in 1977 he received a Diploma in Child Health from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Ireland. In 1992, he obtained a PhD from City University in London, United Kingdom.

Dr Al-Mazrou is the author of over 117 publications and over 23 book chapters and reports.