In the Federal Ministry of Health, She pioneered program for HIV treatment and Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) as well as coordinated the first round of proposals to the Global Fund for HIV, TB, and Malaria, where Nigeria first benefitted in 2001. Similarly, she later served as a Global Fund Manager for HIV, TB, and Malaria under the National Aids Control Agency.  She has vast experience and expertise in Health Systems strengthening with specific focus on Primary Health Care (PHC) and delivery of Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent and Elderly Health plus Nutrition (RMNCAEH+N), including Gender Based Violence.

She has served as the Director/Head, Family Health Department, Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria, where she facilitated the establishment of RMNCAEH+N Multi-stakeholder Coordination Platform for effective harmonization and harnessing of resources for maximum impact. She promoted the cause for the provision of sustainable health care services to the elderly and retirees, which led to the inclusion of the Elderly (age 65 and above) in the Universal Health Insurance Scheme. She was a board member of Global FP2030 Commitment based in WHO HQ, and Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation Technical Advisory Group on High Impact projects.

She was the Director/Head of Hospital Services, Federal Ministry of Health, where she was saddled with the responsibility of coordinating the affairs of all Tertiary and Speciality Hospitals, Trauma, Emergency and Disaster Response, and overall coordination of the Cancer Programme in the country. This was in recognition of her enormous wealth of experience and astute leadership qualities. She is a member of the Governing Board of various professional bodies including the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, Medical and Dental Council, and Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), amongst others.

International Experience: Dr. Salma has also worked with the United Nations both at national and international levels. She worked with UNFPA as HIV Country Adviser and later as Assistant Country Representative in Nigeria and as WHO HIV/STI Country officer in the Republic of Yemen as well as PMTCT WHO/EMRO Cairo, Egypt. She was the National Team lead for the Nigerian Maternal Newborn and Child Health Programme (MNCH2), a flagship project funded by UKAID (now FCDO), and later served as the Country Director of FHI360 in Nigeria, where she provided leadership for the implementation of diverse high impact health, education and humanitarian intervention projects in Nigeria.

Humanitarian Crisis and Emergency Response Work Experience: Her experience includes health sector management during Humanitarian Crisis. She played a key role in initiating, establishing and coordinating the health sector Humanitarian and Emergency Response for the Northeast and in Borno, where she served twice as Commissioner of Health in Borno State during the peak of the Humanitarian Crisis from 2011-2015. Back to the Federal Ministry of Health in 2016, Dr. Salma facilitated the establishment of the pioneer Health Sector Response to the Humanitarian Crisis in the Federal Ministry of Health, which contributed to the creation of the Northeast Development Commission and subsequently the Federal Ministry of Disaster Management and Humanitarian Crisis in Nigeria.

She provided leadership and coordination role in delivery of Humanitarian services related to Health and Education through UNHCR and USAID funded projects at the Refugees/IDP Camps in Cross Rivers and Benue States as well as coordinated Implementation of the USAID funded Humanitarian Crisis Response on both Health and Education on the Northeast. She has also played a key technical support role in humanitarian crisis and emergency Response at International level as a Country Officer, WHO office Sanna, Yemen and the WHO/EMRO Office.

Efforts in Women and Children’s Health

Dr. Salma coordinated and led several Government Reproductive Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescents, and Elderly Health Plus Nutrition (RMNCAEH+N), Gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS projects supported by the UN Agencies (UNFPA, WHO, UNHCR, USAID, The World Bank and FCDO). She is a strong advocate for equity in access to quality Healthcare towards improvement of the Health of Women, Children, and Adolescents, the elderly and other vulnerable and marginalized groups.

Board Membership

As part of her responsibilities and work experience, Dr Salma served in several health sector boards namely, few of which includes the Governing board of various professional bodies including National Postgraduate Medical College, Nigerian Medical and Dental Council, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital and College of Medical Sciences University of Lagos. She is currently a member of the Global Family Planning 2020 board and the High Impact Projects and Technical Advisory Committee supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, WHO and other international co-sponsors.

Political Experience

Dr. Salma served as Commissioner of Health under the Leadership of Governor Kashim Shettima during the peak of the crisis between 2011 to 2015, where she combined coordinated efforts in the delivery of Health Care and the Emergency crisis and Humanitarian Crisis response.

She contested the Senate position under the APC party of Southern Borno Senatorial Constituency of Borno State in 2018/2019, where her performance was outstanding.

She also served in the Presidential inauguration Committee on Transport in 2019 and Lead Technical Coordinator of the Medical Presidential Committee in 2023.

She is currently serving as the Chair of the Technical Working Group responsible for revamping the State House Medical Center, with a focus on promoting international-standard health services within Nigeria.

In recognition of her tremendous contributions to the health sector development and commitment and passion towards delivery of quality Health Care to the citizens, she has received several awards from various bodies and institution, which include the Rotary International award as the best performing Commissioner of Health in immunization, Best Commissioner of the Year in the North East by the National Union of Journalist, Nigeria, WHO recognition for efforts on Malaria control programme, best performing State Commissioner in efforts towards improving Maternal and Child Health, amongst which include are as woman that contributes significantly to the lives of women and children in Nigeria by the National Council for Women Society (NCWS) Nigeria Best Commissioner of the Year in the North East by the National Union of Journalist, Nigeria, WHO recognition for efforts on Malaria control programme, recognized as woman of the day on the International Women Day by The Palladium. Recently in 2023. Dr Salma was recognized as the Physician of the Year and was awarded based om her significant contributions to the Health Sector Development in Nigeria.

Twitter: @DrSalmaAnas

LinkedIn: SalmaIbrahimanas

Mobile No: +2347034229651

Emai: salma.anaskolo2011@gmail.com