DR SHAMBHU ACHARYA

I possess a strong technical and public health background and extensive experience in global health. During my career as a public health practitioner, I have amassed a wealth of experience by working in several countries across six regions at the local, national, and global level.

I started my career at the Family Planning Association of Nepal, where I led programs, built capacity of staff in 41 of Nepal’s 75 districts, and travelled to 64 districts, often trekking more than a week to visit remote health centers to interact with community workers and residents. I pursued higher education to learn how to transform their needs into impact the population level.

I obtained a master’s degree in social policy and a PhD in global public health at a top university in the United States. During my studies, I wrote several technical papers in health and population and consulted for the World Bank, contributing to the development, appraisal and negotiation of a major health and population project with the Government of Bangladesh. Subsequently, I worked with WHO, managing health and population projects totaling USD 86 million. I played an instrumental role in building strong partnerships and developing key monitoring and reporting tools for ensuring transparency and accountability of resources.

After nearly six years in Bangladesh with the World Bank and WHO where I travelled to the most remote areas of the country to administer polio drops and oversee implementation of TB and leprosy prevention and control programmes, I moved to the WHO South-East Asia Regional Office as a National Health System and Policies Officer. I played a key role in establishing the Asia Pacific Health Economics Network to build the health financing capacity of member states and advocate for increasing or maintaining health sector budgets, particularly as countries faced economic and financial crises.

In 1999, I moved to WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and assumed various technical, managerial, and senior positions. I have provided counsel and guidance on health policy and health systems and technical advice on health financing, health systems and linkages between health and the SDGs. I possess substantial diplomatic and policy experience working across all three levels of WHO: global, regional, and country.

My transdisciplinary experience spans health systems, epidemiology, health security, planning, policy, monitoring and evaluation and partnership building across sectors and government agencies.

I understand and believe in the mission of WHO, evidenced through my extensive career at WHO at all three levels. I am determined to do everything I can in my position to leave no one behind while working to achieve the GPW13 priorities and the health-related SDG targets. I am committed to ensuring a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and rebuilding systems to better address the complex challenges facing the Region in the coming decades.

I have authored numerous publications on health, health development, policy, and systems, including as an editorial advisor of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization since 2012.

I have helped strengthen WHO and have introduced many innovative ideas and tools, for example: i) country cooperation strategies; ii) country case studies on various topics to member states and a broader audience; and iii) WHO country presence report on what WHO does in countries, with what resources, with whom, and how it delivers results and impact in countries.