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Derek Yach, MBChB, M.P.H.
Derek Yach, MBChB, M.P.H. is Professor of Global Health at Yale School of Public Health as well as the Executive Director of the Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health cluster at the World Health Organization (WHO).
At WHO, he oversees overall policy development and management for WHO of those programmes aimed at the prevention of major risk factors for chronic diseases (tobacco, alcohol, diet/nutrition and physical activity), the management of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, mental disorders and genetics, and the prevention of inuries and violence. Previously he developed WHO's Tobacco-Free Initiative. From July 1995 to May 1998, Dr Yach was responsible for the design and implementation of the World Health Organization global consultative process that resulted in the development of the new global health policy, Health for All in the 21st Century, adopted at the May 1998 World Health Assembly.
Prior to joining WHO, he held a variety of senior research and policy positions in South Africa, and served on a number of international and national Advisory Committees dealing with a wide range of public health issues. He established the Centre for Epidemiological Research at the Medical Research Council. A particular focus of his writing has been the need for global actions to complement national policies in many areas of public health, as well as emphasizing the relationship between research, policy development and implementation. His research in South Africa focused on quantifying inequalities in health, the impact of urbanization on health, and on the epidemiology and effectiveness of control measures to address tuberculosis, measles, diarrheal disease and tobacco.
He has degrees in medicine (Cape Town), epidemiology (Stellenbosch) and public health (Johns Hopkins). He has published over 200 original articles, editorials and chapters.
His current research interests are two-fold: strengthening the analytic basis for studying the positive and negative impacts of globalization on health, and secondly, on expanding developing country involvement in chronic disease prevention and control with a particular emphasis on issues related to nutrition transition, tobacco and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. |
