WANEL in Nigeria is made up of 38 professionals in medicine, media and public health who are committed to the vision and mission of WANEL. Members share information, publications and collaborate on professional health activities including implementation sciences and health systems research.

Dr. Laz Ude Eze is a public health physician, health policy advocate and sustainable development consultant. Apart from being the Nigeria Country Coordinator of WANEL, he is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Talk Health Real Media limited, popularly known as TalkHealth9ja, a fast-growing health communications and public health information management organization. He leads the production of a weekly television show on a leading cable television channel in Africa and a live weekly radio show. He is a member of the National Advocates for Health (since 2017), a group of 26 eminent Nigerians appointed by the Federal Ministry of Health to lead high-level advocacy (pro bono) for sustainable health systems. He studied Medicine at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and graduated with the medical student prize.

He obtained his Master of Public Health (MPH) degree and Graduate Certificate in Global Health from the University of Kentucky, USA with distinctions. On graduation, he entered the hall of fame in the College of Public Health as the recipient of John Wiggs Prize for exceeding expectation in his degree program. Dr. Laz has 13 years’ professional working experience in clinical practice, academic research and public health programming and development. As the Senior Manager Technical of DCL, he managed the technical staff implementing the Johns Hopkins University International Vaccines Access Centre (JHU-IVAC) projects in Nigeria, and coordinated the advocacy activities of IVAC towards sustainable immunization financing in Nigeria. While working with the ARFH as the Senior M&E Officer, he coordinated technical support to strengthening HMIS in 6 states. He was a national trainer on NHMIS/DHIS2, developed the M&E plan for the EU/UNICEF/ARFH ICCM Project and also contributed to the development of ARFH’s M&E plan for the Global Fund NFM Malaria grant and the National Malaria M&E Plan (2014-2020).

He developed the zero draft of the national M&E Plan for ICCM in Nigeria. As the Executive Director of the Pink Oak Cancer Trust, he established partnership with over 20 health institutions and NGOs, raised monies and sponsored the treatment of 26 cancer patients within two years.

Dr. Laz has deep understanding of the Nigerian health system and enjoys cordial relationship with many of the stakeholders at the national and sub-national levels. He has provided consultancy services to multiple national and international organizations on USAID, BMGF, Gavi, and Global Fund-supported health projects. He is well-travelled and received over 20 awards and recognitions for his professional excellence and community service.

These are links to some of his publications:

A second COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria will cause more harm than good

Who will save Nigerians from this terror called cancer?

Rising deaths: COVID-19 is trigger, Nigeria’s weak health system is killer