Dr. Irum Fatima

Dr. Irum Fatima is an Assitant Director of Global Surgery programs with a joint appointment at IRD Pakistan and the Global Surgery Foundation. She is a public health professional and passionate about addressing the health needs of the people especially low-income, rural populations.

Irum started her public health career working with the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) and Red Crescent Societies following the 2005 earthquake in northern Pakistan. She has extensive experience at the national level in programmatic management of tuberculosis and was involved in the development of guidelines and protocols TB DOTS implementation for the public-private care model. In her capacity as a program manager at the Indus Hospital & Health Network, she played a pivotal role in the design of Pakistan’s NSOAP (National Vision for Surgical Care 2020-25) and led the stakeholder engagement at national and provincial levels. She also led the field work for the national baseline survey for surgical indicators.

Irum brings her deep understanding of the health system in Pakistan to the IRD-GSF efforts to translate the national surgical policy document into an implementation plan that is integrated into Pakistan’s Universal Health Coverage Benefits Package.