Assistant Director-General, Antimicrobial Resistance, WHO
As Assistant Director-General for Health Systems, Yukiko Nakatani has a broad portfolio covering governance, financing and service delivery of health systems, the development and implementation of WHO’s policies and standards for medicines and other health products, antimicrobial resistance and the generation and use of health data to drive decision-making on health.
Prior to taking up this position, Dr Nakatani served as Assistant Director-General for Access to Medicines and Health Products at WHO, overseeing the development and implementation of WHO’s norms and policies to ensure equitable access to quality medicines, vaccines and diagnostics. In parallel, since early 2024, she led WHO’s work on antimicrobial resistance.
Before joining WHO, Dr Nakatani served as Director of the Cancer and Disease Control Division of the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and as the Technical Advisor to the Minister of State for the COVID-19 Vaccination Task Force in Japan. Her first position at the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare dates back to 2001. In the following 20 years she held positions in a number of areas, including medical economics, research and development, health technology assessment and blood products. From 2015-2016, Dr Nakatani coordinated the implementation of Japan’s first National Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance. In addition, Dr Nakatani worked at the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States of America on the medical response to H1N1 influenza, in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She also worked as a Medical Officer in the Medical Devices Team at WHO headquarters from 2012-2014.
