Since 1^st May Mr Burkard Kömm has been working as the Chief Executive Officer for the Deutsche Lepra- und Tuberkulosehilfe (DAHW).

Mr Burkard Kömm was attracted to work for DAHW because “Its work corresponds to my own views and motivation to provide medical care for people in marginalised groups in poorer countries.”

Mr Burkard Kömm: Photo © DAHW

The current global financial crisis and its negative consequences on funding for development efforts, did not deter Burkard from moving to Germany from Africa, where he had been working for twelve years, to meet the challenge of financing projects overseas on a tighter budget. The need to turn around the situation so that funding of projects that has been suspended can be resumed provides an added stimulation Burkard reported in a recent interview. He finds it painful that support has had to have been withdrawn from projects and programmes that DAHW has been partnering and assisting for decades.

All aspects of his role are important. But Burkard has decided that his top priority is to conduct an internal review of DAHW including its structure, working processes and communications systems with a view to optimising their performance on a reduced budget, whilst ensuring the quality of the programmes they are financing in the field. The effectiveness of programmes and projects in the field to cure and rehabilitate individuals will also come under close examination and adjustments will be made where necessary to ensure they are bringing the best possible outcomes to the beneficiaries.

It is a mark of professionalism, according to Burkard that one can draw not only on one’s own knowledge and experience, but that one is also aware of one’s limitations and is prepared to be receptive to the advice of other experts. 

Burkard began his professional life as an economist with SIEMENS AG in Würzburg and Erlangen. Later on he trained as a nurse anaesthetist. In 2001 he gained a masters degree from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the London School of Economics in Health Policy, Planning and Financing. Between 1995 and 2000 Burkard was working in health facilities in Colombia, Uganda and Nigeria. Over the past eight years he had been working on various health financing systems in Nigeria and Kenya. His last assignment required him to advise the Kenyan Ministry of Health on how to develop a sustainable and innovative health financing system for a low income country. 

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