Gavi appoints Dr. Sania Nishtar as new CEO

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, made its long-awaited announcement of its new chief executive officer, Dr. Sania Nishtar, on Thursday.

Nishtar, who is Pakistan’s first female cardiologist, currently serves as a senator in her home country. She will start the role at Gavi on March 18.

Gavi is a public-private partnership that works to vaccinate children in lower-income countries. It also coordinated COVAX, which was a mechanism to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to these countries.

Nishtar has over three decades working in public health in both Pakistan and internationally. Between 2018 and 2022, Nishtar served as special assistant to Pakistan’s prime minister on social protection and poverty alleviation; helped reestablish the country’s Ministry of Health in 2013; founded a health-focused nongovernmental organization in Pakistan; and held a number of leadership positions in several international health panels and advisory groups.

This includes experience working with the organization she will soon lead. She previously served as chair of a Gavi advisory committee and as an independent member of Gavi’s board.

Nishtar has also been in the running for several high-profile roles in the past. She was among the top three contenders for WHO director-general position in 2017 but lost to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in the elections. During her campaign, she championed transparency and accountability.

She also ran for the position of U.N. high commissioner for refugees in 2015 and led the U.N. secretary-general’s independent accountability panel for the global strategy for women’s, children’s, and adolescents’ health.

“Dr Nishtar has built a reputation as a tireless advocate for health equity, an innovative thinker and a proven doer when it comes to solving complex challenges,” professor José Manuel Barroso, chair of Gavi’s board, said in a statement.

Just before the Gavi announcement, Nishtar introduced a bill in Pakistan mandating free emergency medical treatment in public hospitals, which was unanimously approved in the Senate.

Commenting in Gavi’s statement announcing her appointment, Nishtar said the challenges facing her in the new role include the health impacts of climate change, vaccine inequity, and future outbreaks, as well as ongoing efforts to increase the number of children worldwide who receive routine immunization.

The organization’s previous leader, Dr. Seth Berkley, stepped down in 2023 after serving as its CEO since 2011.

Nishtar is the second name to be announced to take over the role. Last February, Gavi’s board approved the appointment of Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate as the new CEO. He initially accepted the offer, but then had a change of heart and now serves as the coordinating minister of health and social welfare in Nigeria.

Since August 2023, David Marlow, who previously served as the organization’s chief operating officer, served as the interim CEO while Gavi began a fresh search for a CEO.

Several names were floated around as potential contenders for the role including Dr. Lia Tadesse, current minister of health of Ethiopia, and Dr. Amadou Sall, CEO of Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal.

This year, Gavi will launch its replenishment campaign in June, as well as a new African Vaccines Manufacturing Accelerator. The organization will also seek approval for its 2026-2030 strategy.