Maria Neira joined the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1993 as the Coordinator of the Global Task Force on Cholera Control. In 1999, she became the Director of the Department of Control, Prevention and Eradication. She was then appointed as the Director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health in 2005. During her career, Maria also worked with Médecins Sans Frontières in refugee camps in Central America.
Maria served as the Vice Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs in Spain, as President of the Spanish Food Safety and Nutrition Agency, as the Public Health Adviser of the Ministry of Health in Mozambique, and as the United Nations Public Health Advisor/Physician for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Rwanda.
Maria studied medicine and surgery at the University of Oviedo. She specialized in endocrinology and metabolic diseases at the Université René Déscartes. In addition, she holds a master’s degree in Public Health, a diploma in Human Nutrition from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, and an international diploma in Emergency Preparedness and Crisis Management form the University of Geneva. In 2016, she received the “Inspirational Women in Geneva Working for the Environment” award, in additional to other international awards in France and Spain.
Lyrics to the song that was inspired by the interview:
THE BALLAD OF ELLA KISSI-DEBRAH
Reading in the papers
Numbers written there
Of how many die each year
Cos of dirty air
But numbers they don't speak
Drama they lack
Unlike the sound of hearing someone
Die from an asthma attack
What can change?
So that - Ella Kissi-Debrah
Didn't die in vein
And we all take action
And Policies change
Ella Kissi-Debrah
Hear our prayers
So that no more children
Will die
From breathing air
Ella Kissi-Debrah
Deserves a happy tune
But this song is not for her
It is meant for you
To pluck and play your heart strings
So you think twice before we drive
And decide who you will give your vote to
So more kids stay alive
So that - Ella Kissi-Debrah
Didn't die in vein
And we all take action
And Policies change
Ella Kissi-Debrah
Hear our prayers
So that no more children
Will die
From breathing air