The Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunisation (GAVI), a public-private partnership, has appointed PTI Senator Dr Sania Nishtar as its new chief executive officer.
“Over three decades of leadership at the national and global levels, Dr Nishtar has built a reputation as a tireless advocate for health equity, an innovative thinker and a proven doer when it comes to solving complex challenges,” Professor José Manuel Barroso, chair of the Gavi Board, said.
In a statement on Thursday, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance described the senator as a trained medical doctor who has built an outstanding career over 30 years as a global public health leader.
Dr Nishtar will assume the role on 18 March 2024.
GAVI is a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate more than half the world’s children against some of the world’s deadliest diseases. Moreover, the organistiaon shares the cost that implementing countries pay for vaccines. When the coronavirus hit the world, the public-private organisation supplied the vaccines to different countries.
Dr Nishtar’s appointment comes at an important time for Gavi. With its fifth five-year strategic period drawing to a close at the end of 2025, Gavi will seek coard approval during 2024 for its 2026–2030 strategy.
Alongside future strategy, fundraising would be a priority for the new CEO, with plans already in place for a high-level event to launch Gavi’s investment opportunity, to be co-hosted by France and Africa CDC in June.
She served as a special assistant to the prime minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, a role with the status of a federal minister between 2018 and 2022. In 2013, during Pakistan’s caretaker government, she served as a federal minister with responsibility for re-establishing the country’s health ministry among other roles, winning acclaim for transparency and accountability during her time in office.
“I am impressed by her accomplishments and excited by the possibilities her appointment brings for our Alliance and our ambitions to protect future generations,” the chair of the Gavi Board said and thanked David Marlow for his leadership as Gavi’s CEO ad interim.
While commenting on her appointment, Dr Nishtar said: “Health starts with life-saving vaccines. Over the past 23 years, Gavi has been one of the most impactful organisations in global health.”
She went on to say that the task ahead was “enormous – from health impacts of climate change, to the need to tackle vaccine inequity, prepare for future outbreaks and boost routine immunisation,” which she believes was the gateway to achieving Universal Health Coverage.
“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.”
David Marlow, Gavi’s CEO ad interim, said that he was looking forward to working closely with Dr Nishtar and the alliance partners.
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In her career, Dr Nishtar has fulfilled 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 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 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, and has 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.
Later, the Foreign Office congratulated Dr Nishtar on her appointment.
Her appointment comes at a time when a few JN.1 Covid-19 variant cases were reported in Pakistan. According to the World Health Organisation, JN.1 is a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant and has been identified as the most prevalent strain in the United States.
Experts warn that while the JN.1 variant is highly transmissible, it primarily causes mild symptoms similar to a common cold, affecting the upper respiratory tract.
