Dr Ousmane Touré, a young physician and public health emergency specialist whose commitment and expertise served the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in the fight against cholera in Haiti and Ebola in West Africa, tragically lost his life in a building collapse, following the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on August 14, 2021.
“We are devastated by the loss of Ousmane, a dedicated physician who supported our response in Haiti,” said PAHO/WHO Director Dr. Carissa F. Etienne. “He will be greatly missed by his colleagues and friends at PAHO and WHO. We extend our deepest condolences to his family – his wife and two daughters.”
“The loss of Dr. Touré is emblematic of the dangers health workers face and the extraordinary sacrifices they have made during this pandemic,” she added.
Dr. Touré, a native of Guinea, began working with WHO in his country, where he supported the polio eradication program from 2009 to 2013. From 2014 to 2016, he participated in WHO’s Ebola response in Guinea. He was then deployed to Haiti as a field coordinator in the PAHO/WHO cholera response from 2017 to 2018.
Subsequently, in November 2018, he returned to West Africa to work as a field epidemiologist in the WHO Ebola response team in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He developed strong expertise in epidemic investigation, surveillance systems, immunization implementation, and disease control in pre- and post-emergency settings. Dr. Touré arrived in Haiti in July 2021 to work for PAHO as an international health emergency consultant as part of the COVID-19 response.