On 1 September, Silviu Domente arrived in Kyiv, Ukraine to begin his work as the new WHO representative in Ukraine. He succeeds Dr Jarno Habicht, who led the WHO Country Office in Ukraine for 8 years.
A trained medical doctor and surgeon, Silviu Domente is a citizen of the Republic of Moldova, with more than 30 years of experience in the health sector under his belt. Mr Domente began his career as a surgeon in an emergency ward at a Chișinău hospital, and later worked at the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Moldova, the United Nations Children’s Fund and, eventually, WHO.
During nearly 2 decades with WHO, Dr Domente has worked in the Republic of Moldova, Greece and Georgia. Since April 2019, he has served as WHO Representative in Georgia.
His professional experience includes strengthening health systems, developing health policies, advancing primary health care, and working on emergency preparedness and response.
Dr Domente will build on WHO’s ongoing support to the Government of Ukraine across 3 key areas: responding to the immediate needs of the health system during the war, recovery, and advancing long-term reform – working in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and partners.
Dr Domente holds a Master of Science in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.