After three years as Chair of AFEW International’s Board, Professor Jeffrey Lazarus has stepped down on 1 June 2018. Many positive dynamic changes happened during his tenure. AFEW gained financial stability, renewed its board with community members, increased gender equity and cemented its position as a leading NGO in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA).
Jeffrey Lazarus joined AFEW right after its re-organisation into a network with members in five EECA countries. AFEW was still negotiating the second phase of ‘Bridging the Gaps: health and rights for key populations’ project, which ultimately ensured financial sustainability for five years.
“Jeff Lazarus changed many things with regards to our Board. During these three years, AFEW’s board had more meetings and more involvement. During Jeff’s chairmanship, our organisation has gone through many important changes. We changed the location of our office in Amsterdam, our name, our logo and our statutes. These were all basic requirements to prepare AFEW for the future, for the next level in our work. Thanks to Jeff, we have got more visibility and more connections,” says AFEW International’s executive director Anke van Dam.
During his three years, Jeff provided needed input into AFEW’s strategies to improving access to health services – including hepatitis C – for key populations at risk.
Jeffrey V. Lazarus continues as an associated researcher at ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona and an affiliate professor at CHIP, Rigshospitalet, the University of Copenhagen, a WHO Collaborating Centre on HIV and Viral Hepatitis and will take on new duties as the first Vice-Chair of the EASL International Liver Foundation
“When I was at World Health Organisation a decade ago, the AIDS Foundation East-West (that now became AFEW International) was one of our most important non-governmental partners. I never imagined that one day I would become Chair of the Board and help shepherd in a new era where AFEW International solidified its leading role as an organisation working for the improved health of the most marginalised and vulnerable populations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia,” says Jeffrey Lazarus.
AFEW International wishes Jeffrey Lazarus all the best in his important work to improve the health and quality of life of marginalised populations.
