Sania Nishtar

Sania Nishtar
SI FRCP
CEO, GAVI
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety
(Federal Minister)
In office
15 May 2019 – 10 April 2022
PresidentArif Alvi
Prime MinisterImran Khan
Chairperson of Benazir Income Support Programme
In office
30 October 2018 – 10 April 2022
Prime MinisterImran Khan
Preceded byMarvi Memon
Chairperson of Ehsaas Programme
In office
15 May 2019 – 10 April 2022
Prime MinisterImran Khan
Preceded byPosition Established
Member of the Senate of Pakistan
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 March 2021
ConstituencyKhyber Pakhtunkhwa
Personal details
Born (1963-02-16) 16 February 1963 (age 61)
Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Political partyPTI (2019-present)
SpouseGhalib Nishtar
Alma materKhyber Medical College
King's College London (Ph.D.)
Known forWork in development of health in Pakistan
AwardsSitara-i-Imtiaz (2005)
Global Innovation Award (2011)
WebsiteOfficial website

Sania Nishtar SI FRCP (Urdu: ثانیہ نشتر; born 16 February 1963), is a Pakistani physician, cardiologist, senator, author and activist who was appointed CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance in 2024.[1] Nishtar previously served as Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, with the status of Federal Minister, and chairperson Ehsaas Programme.[2] She was elected to the Senate of Pakistan in the 2021 Senate election from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Previously she served in the interim federal cabinet in 2013 overseeing public health, education and science.[3][4]

Nishtar co-chaired WHO's High-Level Commission on Non-communicable diseases along with the Presidents of Uruguay, Finland and Sri Lanka.[5] She is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the future of healthcare[6] and co-chairs the U.S National Academy of Sciences Global Study on the Quality of Healthcare in low and middle-income countries.[7] In addition, she also chairs the United Nations International Institute for Global Health's International Advisory Board,[8] and she is a member of the International Advisory Board on Global Health of the German Federal Government.[9]

Born in Peshawar, Nishtar went to medical school at Khyber Medical College and graduated top of her class in 1986.[10] She was inducted into the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Pakistan in 1991 after completing her residency at Khyber Teaching Hospital. She joined the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences as a cardiologist in 1994 and worked with the institute until 2007. She left the institute on sabbatical twice, first in 1996 to at the Guy's Hospital in London, and again in 1999 to pursue her Ph.D. in medicine from the King's College London, which she received in 2002.[11][12] She became a fellow of Royal College of Physicians in 2005.[13] In 2019, King's College London awarded her a doctorate in science, honoris causa.[14]

In 1998, Nishtar founded Heartfile, an Islamabad-based health policy think tank. Since 2014, Nishtar has been a co-chair of the WHO Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity and also serves on the board of United Nations University's Institute for Global Health.[15] Nishtar was a leading candidate for director-general of the World Health Organization, to be elected in May 2017.[16][17] She was amongst the shortlisted three nominees in the election held in January 2017, but was not successful in the final election held on 23 May 2017.[18] Nishtar's late father, Syed Hamid, was a much respected doctor hailing from a very well-reputed syed family. She is the wife of Ghalib Nishtar, the grandson of Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar, a leading figure in the Pakistan movement.[19]

  1. ^ Sara Jerving and Jenny Lei Ravelo (11 January 2024), Gavi appoints Dr. Sania Nishtar as new CEO Devex.
  2. ^ Sherani, Tahir (15 May 2019). "PM Imran appoints Dr Sania Nishtar special assistant with status of federal minister". Dawn. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Pakistan' US agree to boost ties in health sector". Radio Pakistan. 22 May 2013.
  4. ^ Division, Health Medicine; Health, Board on Global (2018). Crossing the Global Quality Chasm: Improving Health Care Worldwide. National Academies Press. p. 302. ISBN 978-0-309-47789-5.
  5. ^ "WHO Independent High-level Commission on NCDs". World Health Organization. Archived from the original on 22 November 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  6. ^ "Global Future Council on Health and Healthcare". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  7. ^ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health And Medicine, Division; Board on Health Care Services; Board On Global, Health; Committee on Improving the Quality of Health Care Globally (2018). Crossing the Global Quality Chasm: Improving Health Care Worldwide : Health and Medicine Division. doi:10.17226/25152. ISBN 978-0-309-47789-5. PMID 30605296. Retrieved 26 October 2018. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "The Team - International Institute for Global Health". iigh.unu.edu. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  9. ^ "Four new members complete the International Advisory Board on Global Health". Bundesgesundheitsministerium. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  10. ^ "Sania Nishtar - The Rockefeller Foundation". The Rockefeller Foundation. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  11. ^ "All stories / articles Dr Sania Nishtar". Thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  12. ^ Nishtar, Sania (2010). Choked Pipes: Reforming Pakistan's Mixed Health System. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-547969-0.
  13. ^ "Sania Nishtar: Acting with intent". BMJ. 361: k1781. 16 May 2018. doi:10.1136/bmj.k1781. ISSN 0959-8138. S2CID 21713197.
  14. ^ "King's celebrates its new honorary graduates". www.kcl.ac.uk. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  15. ^ "Dr Sania Nishtar: in the run for the top UN refugee post". Dawn.com. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  16. ^ "Sania Nishtar". www.who.int. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  17. ^ Merelli, Annalisa (11 April 2017). "World Health Organization chief candidates Sania Nishtar, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and David Nabarro face different treatment". Quartz. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  18. ^ Gulland, Anne (2017). "Three shortlisted candidates bid to lead WHO". BMJ. 356: j478. doi:10.1136/bmj.j478. PMID 28130245. S2CID 36414104.
  19. ^ "PM meets Nishtar's grand daughter". 11 October 2008.