Kibrewossen Kiflu-Akililu is the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) team leader at the Global One Health initiative (GOHi) Eastern Africa Office. He is an internal medicine specialist and has been a clinician for 11 years. Kibrewossen previously served as a physician and in a leadership position as Director of Quality Directorate at Zewditu Memorial Hospital in Addis Ababa.
Kibrewossen began working in IPC during the COVID-19 pandemic, playing a significant role as the IPC team leader of Bethel Teaching General Hospital. Success in this role resulted in him earning a similar position at Zewditu Memorial Hospital, where he was nominated as a member of the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Committee. During the pandemic, he played a crucial part in implementing proper IPC practices and advocating for the rational use of antibiotics.
In his current role at GOHi, Kibrewossen leads the IPC team on an AMR project, which focuses on the prevention, early detection and early response for targeted Multidrug Resistant (MDR) human pathogens of epidemiological importance, Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacterales (CRE). He supports the proper implementation of IPC measures to tackle the emergence and spread of targeted MDR pathogens.
With these efforts, Kibrewossen and his team brought impactful results that substantially improved patient outcomes in target units. Kibrewossen is also a member of the Ethiopian National IPC Technical Working Group, an advisory committee that guides the IPC team at the Ministry of Health.