The CEO for Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunization Dr Sania Nishtar has arrived in Honiara this afternoon for a two day visit to the Ministry of Health in Honiara, Solomon Islands.
Gavi, is an international organisation established in 2000 to improve access to new and under used vaccines for children living in low income countries. The Vaccine Alliance. helps vaccinate more than half the world’s children against deadly and debilitating infectious diseases. As part of its mission to save lives and protect people’s health by increasing equitable and sustainable use of vaccines, Gavi has helped vaccinate more than 1.1 billion children in 78 lower-income countries, including Solomon Islands, preventing more than 18.8 million future deaths.
A trained medical doctor, Dr Nishtar has built an outstanding career over 30 years as a global public health leader. In national government of her country of Pakistan, she served between 2018 and 2022 as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, a role with the status of a Federal Minister. In 2013, during Pakistan’s Caretaker Government, 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.
During 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 (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 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. A prolific thought leader, she has co-authored dozens of academic papers and books, and has been published in many leading national and international newspapers.
Over the next two days, Dr Nishtar will meet with the Minister for Health and Medical Services and key staff of the Ministry. She will also visit the National Medical Stores, the National Referral Hospital, the Expanded Programme on Immunization Working Group at the Headquarters. The CEO will also be briefing the Prime Minister and also making courtesy calls to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance and Treasury.
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