Zafar Mirza’s appointment hailed

Islamabad : The global and national public health fraternity has welcomed the appointment of eminent public health specialist Dr. Zafar Mirza as Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination. Dr. Zafar Mirza is currently serving as Director, Health System Development at the World Health Organization’s Regional Office in Cairo.

Assigning health at the federal level to a top expert in the field with years of relevant experience in Pakistan and at the regional and global levels is expected to augur well for the reform agenda promised by Prime Minister Imran Khan. The new incumbent has the vision, capacity and capability to introduce and implement sweeping reforms in health.

Until yesterday, Dr. Zafar Mirza was serving at the post of Director Health System Development at WHO’s Office for Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO) based in Cairo, Egypt. The post portfolio covers Universal Health Coverage, primary healthcare, health governance and financing, health workforce development, integrated health service delivery, pharmaceuticals and health technologies.

Dr. Zafar Mirza also served as acting WHO Representative in Iran and remained team lead for Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property at WHO, Geneva. He remained Regional Adviser for Essential Medicines and Pharmaceuticals in Cairo. Earlier on, he served as founding National Coordinator of The Network for Consumer Protection in Pakistan.

Eisenhower Fellow (2004), Britannia Scholar (1994), and holder of a Masters degree in Public Health (London), Dr. Zafar had been on the faculty of Boston School of Public Health, Joint Faculty of WHO Harvard Medical School and the Federal Health Services Academy of Pakistan.