Dr Fikri’s sudden demise shakes health fraternity Saira terms him ‘a great friend of Pakistan’

Islamabad: The health fraternity in Pakistan Wednesday expressed deepest condolences over the sudden demise of the Regional Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr. Mahmoud Fikri, who passed away due to cardiac arrest on Tuesday while on his way to Uruguay to attend the Global NCD Summit.

Terming it “a huge loss to the global health fraternity,” Minister for Health Saira Afzal referred to Dr. Fikri as a great friend of Pakistan who visited the country twice during the current year. Most recently, he was in Pakistan last week for WHO’s 64th Regional Committee meeting.  Dr. Fikri had been elected Regional Director of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (comprising 22 countries) on February 1, 2017 and was proactively leading the region in improving the health status of its people. He had previously served as Adviser to the Minister of Health of the United Arab Emirates, and had been a prominent health figure for many years.