ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has constituted a new Search and Nomination Committee to recommend members for the Board of Governors of the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, following the withdrawal of an earlier summary for the board’s appointment by the federal health ministry last year.
The move to constitute a new search and nomination committee came after the federal health ministry’s attempt to appoint the heads of two key institutions attached to NIH was declined by the Establishment Division due to the absence of a duly constituted board of governors, as required under the NIH (Reorganisation) Act, 2021.
Officials said the Establishment Division maintained that appointments to senior executive positions could not proceed without the oversight and approval of the board of governors, prompting the health ministry to seek reconstitution of the committee to complete the board’s appointment process.
According to a notification issued by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination on Wednesday, the committee has been formed under Section 5 of the NIH (Reorganisation) Act, 2021, replacing a committee notified in July, 2024.
The committee has been tasked with recommending suitable persons for appointment as members of the NIH Board of Governors.The committee will be chaired by the federal minister for National Health Services, with the secretary Establishment Division as vice chair. Other members include the health ministry secretary, Vice Chancellor of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University Prof Ahsan Waheed Rathore, Vice Chancellor of the University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Ms Zeba Sattar, Population Council Pakistan’s Country Director Dr Zeba Sattar, and Dr Nusratullah Chaudhary of Surgimed Hospital, Lahore.
NIH has remained without a board of governors since March 2024, as the process for constituting the board remained pending. Officials said the committee is expected to begin work immediately and submit its recommendations for approval through the prescribed legal process.
