Sania Nishtar
President, Heartfile
Sania Nishtar graduated from medical school in 1986. In 1999 she left a career as Pakistan’s first woman cardiologist to establish the NGO think Etank, Heartfile. She also founded Pakistan’s Health Policy Forum and Heartfile Financing, a program aimed at fighting medical impoverishment. In 2013, Dr Nishtar served as a Federal Minister in Pakistan’s Interim Government, where she held four portfolios, and was instrumental in establishing Pakistan’s Ministry of Health. Internationally, she is a member of many Expert Working Groups and Task Forces of the World Health Organisation, a member of the board of the International Union for Health Promotion, the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council, the Ministerial Leadership Initiative for Global Health, the Clinton Global Initiative and is Chair of GAVI’s Evaluation Advisory Committee. She has previously led many global initiatives. Sania Nishtar is a key health policy voice in Pakistan, the author of Pakistan’s first health reform plan, Pakistan’s first compendium of health statistics, and the country’s first national public health plan for NCDs. She is a member of many boards, advisory groups and task forces and a voice to catalyze change at the broader governance level in Pakistan. She is the recipient of Pakistan’s Sitara e-Imtiaz, a presidential award, the European Societies Population Science Award, and the Global Innovation award. Sania Nishtar holds a Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians and a Ph.D from Kings College, London.