ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination has initiated the process to appoint executive directors for two key centres at the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, despite the absence of an NIH Board of Governors, officials familiar with the development said on Wednesday.
They said interviews for the posts of Executive Director, Vaccine and Biological Products Centre, and Executive Director, Centre for Disease Control (CDC), were conducted on Tuesday at the ministry by a panel constituted for the purpose.
Under the NIH (Reorganisation) Act 2021, the Board of Governors is responsible for advertising, screening, shortlisting and recommending candidates for appointment as executive directors of NIH centres. The board forwards its recommendations to the federal government for formal approval.
The tenure of the previous Board of Governors ended in early 2024, and a new board has yet to be notified, leaving NIH without a governing body for more than a year.
The health ministry had advertised both positions in October this year on a tenure basis, inviting applications from eligible candidates. NIH officials said the appointments are aimed at ensuring continuity of leadership at the institute’s specialised centres, which play a critical role in disease surveillance, vaccine production and public health preparedness.
The NIH (Reorganisation) Act assigns the Board of Governors a broader mandate, including oversight of policies, budgets, research priorities, surveillance functions and vaccine and biological product manufacturing at the institute. Despite requests for clarification, no official response was provided by the health ministry till the filing of this report.
