ISLAMABAD: The Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) on Thursday appointed Dr Sania Nishtar as its next chief executive officer (CEO).

Dr Nishtar, currently a member of the Senate, will assume the role on March 18, 2024.

“I am honoured by the trust the Gavi Board placed in me and look forward to working with Gavi’s talented staff and skilled Alliance partners,” she told Dawn while confirming her appointment.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate more than half the world’s children against some of the deadliest diseases. It brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organisation (WHO), Unicef, the World Bank, the vaccine industry, technical agencies, civil society, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other private sector partners.

A trained medical doctor, Dr Nishtar has built an outstanding career over 30 years as a global public health leader. She served as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation between 2018 and 2022.

During the caretaker set-up of 2013, she served as a federal minister with responsibility for re-establishing the country’s Ministry of Health among other roles, winning acclaim for transparency and accountability during her time in office. Over the course of her career, Dr Nishtar has held several leadership positions in civil society and international organisations. She founded the non-profit NGO think tank Heartfile, which campaigns for health reform in Pakistan.

She was the inaugural chair of the UN Secretary-General’s Independent Accountability Panel (IAP) for women’s and children’s health and co-chair of the WHO Independent High-level Commission on Noncommunicable Diseases, among many other roles.

Dr Nishtar also served as chair of Gavi’s Evaluation Advisory Committee from 2011 to 2014, and in 2016 served as an independent member of Gavi’s board. She has co-authored dozens of academic papers and books, which have been published in many leading national and international newspapers.

Dr Nishtar graduated from medical school as the best graduate in 1986. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and received a PhD from King’s College London, which awarded her an honorary Doctorate in Science, Honoris Causa, in 2019. She is listed among the notable alumni of King’s College and in 2020 was among the BBC’s 100 Women, a list of inspiring and influential women from around the world.

“Health starts with life-saving vaccines,” she said, commenting on her appointment. “Over the past 23 years, Gavi has been one of the most impactful organisations in global health... I am honoured by the trust the Gavi Board has placed in me and look forward to working with Gavi’s talented staff and skilled Alliance partners to ensure Gavi reaches hundreds of millions of children in lower-income countries with life-saving vaccines against deadly and debilitating diseases.”

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2024