Dr Aylward has 30 years of experience with WHO, primarily in immunization, disease eradication, health emergencies and humanitarian crises. He has worked at all three levels of WHO serving in a range of leadership positions, including as Director of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Assistant Director-General of the Polio and Emergencies Cluster, Executive Director of the WHO Emergencies Programme, and Deputy Director-General for the West Africa Ebola Response. He has also served as Special Representative of the Director-General to the United Nations Emergency Ebola Response (UNMEER). Dr Aylward led the establishment of the new WHO Emergencies Programme and managed the reform of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).