Dr. Negussu Mekonnen

Dr. Negussu Mekonnen is the Country Representative of MSH in Ethiopia. Previously he had served as the Chief of Party for USAID’s Systems for Increased Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS), Strengthening Pharmaceutical Systems (SPS), and Rational Pharmaceutical Management Plus (RPM+) programs in Ethiopia. Before joining MSH, Dr. Mekonnen had served as the Technical Manager of Ethiopia’s Pharmaceutical & Medical Supplies Corporation (the current PFSA) for eight years, and Addis Ababa University (AAU), where he was Associate Professor and Chairman at the Dept. of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy. He taught for 13 years at AAU, serving as the Dean of the School of Pharmacy during the last four years. Dr. Mekonnen was on the Board of Directors of leading GoE institutions: the Drug Administration and Control Authority (the current FMHACA), Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company, Chairman of the Technical Advisory Committee for the Ethiopian Health, Nutrition and Research Institute’s Board of Directors; member of the Executive Committee of Addis Ababa University and its Senate, and Chairman of the Sub-committee on Pharmaceutical Products, Ethiopian Standards Authority. He was a member of the Task Force that designed the National Drug Policy of Ethiopia and the Lead Consultant of the Expert Committee that prepared the first Ethiopian Standard Treatment Guidelines. In 2010, he was awarded by the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Association a gold medal and a certificate for “outstanding contribution to the development of pharmaceutical services in Ethiopia.”

Dr. Mekonnen earned a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences/Pharmacology from the First Medical Institute of Moscow and an MSc in Pharmacy from the Pyatigorsk State Institute of Pharmacy. He facilitated and participated in academic exchange and research between AAU and King’s College London and the School of Pharmacy, University of London. Dr. Mekonnen speaks English, Amharic, Russian, and has a working knowledge of French.