--- title: WHO Appoints Botswana Dr. Matshidiso Moeti to Head Africa Operations description: She is tasked with revamping the organization’s operations on the continent in the wake of the Ebola outbreak canonical: https://time.com/3685370/botswana-doctor-who-africa-ebola/ author: David Stout article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-28T04:31:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:00.836Z article:section: Health og:title: WHO Appoints New Africa Chief og:description: "As a region, we need to up our game,” says Dr. Matshidiso Moeti. og:url: https://time.com/3685370/botswana-doctor-who-africa-ebola/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt31db0c8ff705b485/69877c46524fc0c6b9dec2ac/who-boss.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Switzerland UN WHO og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: WHO Appoints New Africa Chief twitter:description: "As a region, we need to up our game,” says Dr. Matshidiso Moeti. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt31db0c8ff705b485/69877c46524fc0c6b9dec2ac/who-boss.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The WHO Appoints a New, Reform-Minded Head for Africa ## Video: Ebola Fighters in West Africa - TIME's Person of the Year 2014 [Watch (HLS stream): Ebola Fighters in West Africa - TIME's Person of the Year 2014](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/laroqNbt.m3u8) (10:47)  _Published 2014-12-10. Hundreds of doctors, nurses and health workers work every day to treat and contain the outbreak in the hot zone_ by [David Stout](https://time.com/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Jan 28, 2015 4:31 AM UTC  Matshidiso Moeti speaks to the media during a press conference at the European headquarters of the U.N. in Geneva on Jan. 27, 2015 Matshidiso Moeti speaks to the media during a press conference at the European headquarters of the U.N. in Geneva on Jan. 27, 2015Salvatore Di Nolfi—AP by [David Stout](https://time.com/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Jan 28, 2015 4:31 AM UTC The World Health Organization (WHO) [appointed](http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/2015/dr-matshidiso-moeti/en/) Botswana’s Dr. Matshidiso Moeti as its new head of Africa operations on Tuesday. The physician is tasked with revamping the organization on the continent in the wake of the Ebola outbreak and ensuring that the WHO improves its overall response plans to public health crises. “There is no question that, as a region, we need to up our game,” Moeti told the New York _Times_ this week. “The WHO is reforming, and one of my intentions is to fast-track reform in the region, too.” Moeti has already unveiled multiple priorities she plans to commence immediately, including ending the Ebola outbreak and pushing more African countries to adopt health insurance for general medical care. [Read more at](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/world/africa/botswana-doctor-is-named-to-lead-who-in-africa.html?%5Fr=1)[ the New Yor](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/world/africa/botswana-doctor-is-named-to-lead-who-in-africa.html?%5Fr=1)[k](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/world/africa/botswana-doctor-is-named-to-lead-who-in-africa.html?%5Fr=1)[ _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/world/africa/botswana-doctor-is-named-to-lead-who-in-africa.html?%5Fr=1) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3685370/botswana-doctor-who-africa-ebola/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3685370/botswana-doctor-who-africa-ebola/"},"headline":"The WHO Appoints a New, Reform-Minded Head for Africa","datePublished":"2015-01-28T04:31:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:00:00.836Z","description":"\"As a region, we need to up our game,” says Dr. Matshidiso Moeti","url":"https://time.com/3685370/botswana-doctor-who-africa-ebola/","keywords":["Public Health","Africa","New York Times","World Health Organization","Ebola outbreak"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt31db0c8ff705b485/69877c46524fc0c6b9dec2ac/who-boss.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Stout","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/david-stout/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt31db0c8ff705b485/69877c46524fc0c6b9dec2ac/who-boss.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Switzerland UN WHO","caption":"Switzerland UN WHO","creditText":"Salvatore Di Nolfi—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/public-health/","name":"Public Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3685370/botswana-doctor-who-africa-ebola/","name":"The WHO Appoints a New, Reform-Minded Head for Africa"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Ebola Fighters in West Africa - TIME's Person of the Year 2014","description":"Hundreds of doctors, nurses and health workers work every day to treat and contain the outbreak in the hot zone","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/laroqNbt/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-12-10T11:46:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/laroqNbt.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3685370/botswana-doctor-who-africa-ebola/","duration":"PT10M47S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3685370/botswana-doctor-who-africa-ebola/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```