GenevaThe British doctor who oversaw the United Nations’ response to some of the most significant health emergencies in recent years, such as the coronavirus pandemic, Ebola, and avian flu, Dr. David Nabarro, passed away. His age was 75.
On social media platform X, World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus verified Nabarro’s passing.
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Tedros wrote on Saturday that David was a smart, giving mentor to many people and a tremendous advocate for health justice and global health. Numerous lives all throughout the world were impacted and touched by his work.
Following his service as one of six special envoys to the WHO on COVID-19, King Charles III knighted Nabarro in 2023 for his contributions to global health. For his efforts on hunger and health challenges, he was awarded the 2018 World Food Prize.
In 2017, he was also a contender for the top position at the WHO, but Tedros defeated him in the last round of voting.Later that year, Nabarro departed the U.N.
Nabarro escaped the 2003 explosion at the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, which left 22 people dead, including the then-High Commissioner for Human Rights, and numerous others injured.
Days later, in Geneva, Nabarro, who was then a senior director of the WHO, told reporters, “I was in a meeting when suddenly there was this extraordinary thud,” while still holding his notebook covered in blood.
We located first aid equipment, applied bandages, and placed them on their sides. He remembered, “We were working like in a cloud, in this fog of moaning and crying.”
According to the 4SD Foundation, a Swiss social company where Nabarro was the strategic director, he passed away unexpectedly on Friday.
According to the statement, David’s kindness and persistent dedication to bettering the lives of others will be greatly missed.
Nabarro was 75 years old when he passed away at his house in the Geneva suburb of Ferney-Voltaire, France, according to Thuy Maryen, a longtime friend and former director of communications for the organization.
Mentoring the upcoming generation of leaders in global sustainable development is the foundation’s main goal.
His wife, Flo, five children, and seven grandchildren are among the survivors.
