Dr Bruce Aylward is the Assistant Director-General of a cluster which brings together WHO's work in polio eradication and humanitarian response.
A Canadian physician and epidemiologist, Dr Aylward is the author of some 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles and book chapters. He joined the World Health Organization in 1992 as a Medical Officer with the Expanded Programme on Immunization. He worked for seven years with national immunization programmes at the field level in the Middle East, western Pacific, Europe, North Africa and central and southeast Asia. Since 1998, Dr Aylward has been responsible for the oversight and coordination of all polio eradication activities across WHO's Regional Offices and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative partnership. Since 2011, Dr Aylward has led WHO’s work in preparedness, readiness and response to humanitarian emergencies as the lead agency of the Global Health Cluster.