Assad Hafeez is a Pakistani physician who has been serving as Director-General of Health at the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination since 2010.
Hafeez is a graduate of the Army Medical College. Specialising in paediatrics, he became a fellow of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan and of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in the United Kingdom. He holds a master's degree in epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and a PhD in public health from the University of Manchester.[1]
After various posts in the public health sector in Pakistan, Hafeez was appointed the Director-General of Health at the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination in 2010. His appointment was welcomed by the medical profession because the post is normally given to a political appointee.[2] In this position, he has led various initiatives including the provision of a National Health Insurance Program designed to cover a population of over 100 million people. He is also the Dean at the Faculty of Medical Science at the Quaid-i-Azam University, and the Dean of the Health Services Academy, where he is responsible for the provision of policy advice to the government.[1]
From 2015, Hafeez represented Pakistan on the Executive Board of the World Health Organization for a four-year term, being elected Vice-Chairman of the Board in May that year and becoming Chairman two years later.[1]
Hafeez has published more than 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals and is the author of, or a contributor to, a number of books and monographs on public health.[4]