Dr. Zuma Munkombwe is a technical officer for vaccine assessment at the World Health Organization. With over twenty years in regulation of medical products, he is passionate about the safety and quality of medicines used in developing countries. He grew up in the rural farming community of Zambia learning to appreciate natural vegetation from an early age. As an ardent farmer, he has experienced firsthand the effects of climate change with frequent droughts and flooding. He believes climate change puts not only agriculture at risk but also poses a risk of transmission of diseases from animals to humans. Potential future epidemics/pandemics will be fueled by the ‘jump’ of animal pathogens from ecological sources to humans. Dr Munkombwe is cognizant that one major way to reverse the trend is to restore forests in places where deforestation is rampant, and he has developed a passion for planting trees to among other benefits protect and reinvigorate local wildlife populations.

Dr Munkombwe has a doctorate of Veterinary Medicine and a masters in Biomedicine. He has spoken at several conferences on subjects related to medicines and vaccines regulation.