Yukiko Nakatani

Yukiko Nakatani, Assistant Director-General, Access to Medicines and Health Products & Assistant Director-General, Antimicrobial Resistance ad interim

As Assistant Director-General for Access to Medicines and Health Products, Dr Nakatani oversees the development and implementation of WHO’s norms and policies to ensure equitable access to quality medicines, vaccines and diagnostics for all populations everywhere, including for preventing and responding to epidemics.

Immediately prior to taking up this position, 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.

Since 1 February 2024, Dr Nakatani has been acting as Assistant Director-General, Antimicrobial Resistance. In this role, she provides political and technical leadership to curb the devastating health and economic burdens of drug resistance through a comprehensive and people-centred public health approach. The work includes focus on both supporting countries to implement AMR National Action Plans and strengthening the global response, including through multi-sectoral collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Organization for Animal Health, and the United Nations Environment Programme.

Dr Nakatani holds a medical degree from Asahikawa Medical College, and a PhD in public health from the Graduate School of Medicine, both in Japan.