William Gerard Anthony Holohan is an Irish public health physician who served as Chief Medical Officer of Ireland from May 2008 to 1 July 2022.
He became a prominent figure during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland, when he chaired the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), while simultaneously supporting his children and wife as she battled a cancer diagnosis.
[7][8] In March 2022, he announced his intention to step down as Chief Medical Officer, after being appointed as Professor of Public Health Strategy and Leadership at Trinity College Dublin.
This caused several days of controversy, and as a result, Holohan announced his retirement as CMO on 1 July and would not take up his planned academic position at TCD.
The results of the retrospective audit were not disclosed to the women in question, with the likely rationale being that disclosure would not change the patient’s (who had a known diagnosis of cervical cancer) clinical outcome.
Holohan stated that the Department of Health was aware of CervicalCheck’s stance of not informing some women of the outcomes of reviews into their cases, and that a decision was taken not to escalate the matter to the Minister for Health, telling a review panel: "It was reasonable because the information provided in the briefing notes provided by the HSE to the Department was evidence of ongoing improvement to how the service was being delivered, rather than the identification of a problem which, of its nature, required escalation to ministerial level.
"[14] Later, as a result of the facts uncovered by the Serious Incident Management Team, officials in the Department of Health and The Chief Medical Officer (Tony Holohan), the Scally review was commissioned.
[23] On 25 March 2022, Holohan announced that he would step down as Chief Medical Officer on 1 July, after being appointed as Professor of Public Health Strategy and Leadership at Trinity College Dublin.
[27] On 8 April, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said there had to be greater transparency around the planned academic role for Holohan at Trinity College, and that the matter had to be paused and reassessed until he received a report from Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly.
[37] On 2 November 2022, aCGT Vector, a government part-funded start-up working on developing new treatment solutions for cancer, announced that Holohan had been appointed as non-executive chair of its new strategic advisory board".
He recounts in detail her diagnosis of blood cancer, multiple myeloma, and subsequent treatment, and its impact on her life and family, over a period of nine years until her death in 2021.
Holohan also writes about his time as Chief Medical Officer, covering various public events, including Swine Flu, Cervical Check Audit, and the COVID-19 pandemic.