DR. DEREJE DUGUMA

His Excellency Dr. Dereje Duguma is a State Minister of Health at the Ministry of Health of the FDRE, since March 2020. Dr. Dereje began his maiden health service as a medical director at Begi Hospital in west Wollega, where he worked for 2 years from 2009 – 2011.

Prior to his appointment as a State Minster, Dr. Dereje has assumed different posts in Oromia Health Bureau: first as a Head of Planning & IT Department. It is here that Dr. Dereje solidified his reputation as a health systems expert when he and his colleagues from across the Oromia Regional Health Bureau identified poor data quality as a main obstacle to planning. Specifically, the team’s ability to gather accurate, reliable, timely, and complete data was being hampered by lack of attention, awareness, and commitment. To this day, Dr. Dereje advocates enhanced data quality through a serious data management trainings and encourages continuous coaching of health professionals in this arena. Then after he was promoted as an Advisor to the Head of Health Bureau; and subsequently assumed positions of Deputy Head and Head of the Health Bureau of the Oromia Region from May 2016- February 2020.

Currently H.E. Dr. Dereje is engaged in leading the efforts for the continuation of non-Covid-19 essential services. He is also involved in providing regional support in the effort of fighting Covid-19 pandemic in Ethiopia.

Dereje holds Doctor of Medicine (MD) from Mekelle University, 2003-2010. He is also certified and received Masters of International Public Health (MIPH) from Università degli Studi di Parma, Republic of Italy (2012-2013).