Ghulam Nabi Kazi

Dr Ghulam Nabi Kazi Urdu:ڈاکٹر غلام نبی قاضی (b. 28 August 1956, Karachi, Pakistan) is a prominent public health scientist and health economist of Pakistan, who has been working for the World Health Organization since nearly fifteen years.

Early life and family

Dr Kazi was born in Karachi the original capital of Pakistan on 28 August 1956, and is the youngest child of the late Mr Ahmed Hussain A. Kazi- a senior civil servant of Pakistan. He was named after his maternal grandfather Khan Bahadur Ghulam Nabi Kazi MBE who was assigned to head the education sector of Sindh, immediately after it was created a province of British India in 1936.^[1] His great-uncle Allama I. I. Kazi was a reputed philosopher and sage of our times, while his German great-aunt Elsa Kazi was also a renowned scholar and artist. He has summarized their life briefly^[2] and named his own daughter Elsa after her great grand aunt. His paternal grandfather Dr Ali Ahmed S Kazi was one of the leading health administrators and physicians of Sindh. Dr Kazi married Dr Khowla Dar daughter of the late Sqn Ldr Muhammad Nasir Dar in 1990 ^[3] and the couple has one daughter Elsa Kazi.^[4] His father-in-law died in the line of duty on 5 December 1971^[5] and was decorated posthumously by the Government of Pakistan.^[6]

Public health training

Dr Kazi graduated in Medicine and Surgery from the Dow Medical College now the Dow University of Health Sciences and entered the Health Service cadre after his internships in 1983. Initially on entry to service he worked as a Registrar in Dermatology for three years and was later inducted in the management of Civil Hospital Karachi from 1986-1994.^[7] After working on several senior administrative positions in this large teaching hospital of Pakistan, Dr Kazi was assigned to the Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Cell of the Health Department of the provincial Government of Sindh where he monitored several development schemes including those for preventive programs. In 1995 he secured a diploma in Health Economics from the Boston University, and in May 1997 the same university awarded him a Masters in Public Health.^[8] During the course of his training at the Boston University School of Public Health, he was initiated into the intricacies of public health writing by Professor Lucy Honig, an acclaimed novelist and short story writer of the United States of America.

Professional experience

Dr Kazi worked as a Health Writing Specialist with Bionutrics Inc., in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. In 1998, he rejoined the Health Department of the Government of Sindh as Additional Director Planning and Development. He also officiated as Additional Secretary Development, of the Health Department. During this period, he prepared several projects on primary health care including Tuberculosis Control, and negotiated a project on Women's Health with UNICEF. During mid-2000, Dr Kazi was inducted into the World Health Organization as National Program Officer on Tuberculosis Control, and soon thereafter as Provincial Operations Officer / Head of the WHO Sindh office in Karachi. After holding this position for five years, he was assigned to the WHO Pakistan Country Office, Islamabad in September 2005. During this period he attended several short training courses and important international conferences abroad. He was also involved in advocacy for legislation to curb the unethical practices rampant in organ transplantation in Pakistan.^[9] Dr Kazi has comprehensive knowledge concerning the Health Sector of Southern Sudan and has undertaken several missions there for mobilization of resources for the Health Sector and other critical issues relating to building the fragile Health System there. He has also worked as the Health System Strengthening focal point in the WHO office for Southern Sudan at Juba, in addition to his substantive position in WHO Pakistan in Islamabad. He has also worked for WHO North Sudan on Tuberculosis control issues. In Pakistan he is the focal point for Tuberculosis Control, non-communicable diseases, nutrition, community-based initiatives, and is also focusing on the issues arising from the devolution of the Health Sector from the federal to provincial level following a constitutional amendment. He is also a strong protagonist for addressing social determinants of health, including gender and human rights issues.^[10] His main focus these days is on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases including, nutrition disorders, mental health issues and disabilities. Kazi is on the visiting faculty of the Health Services Academy Islamabad^[11] and the Dow University of Health Sciences Karachi. He is currently pursuing an Executive Master of Public Administration program with the Henry W. Bloch School of Management, University of Missouri, Kansas City in the USA.

Publications

Dr Kazi is one of the key authors of the Health Policy for Pakistan's southern province of Sindh,^[12] and has also written several scientific papers on diverse public health topics such as Tuberculosis control,^{[13][14][15][16][17]} emergency response,^[18] public health writing,^[19] micronutrient deficiency,^[20] health inequities,^[21] human rights issues ^[22] and social determinants of health,^[23] in several leading public health journals.

See also

• Ahmed Hussain A. Kazi
• Dr Ali Ahmed S Kazi
• Khan Bahadur Ghulam Nabi Kazi
• Squadron Leader Muhammad Nasir Dar
• Allama I. I. Kazi
• Elsa Kazi
• A G N Kazi
• Mushtak Ali Kazi
• Bashir Ghulam Nabi Kazi
• Mutawakkil Kazi
• Civil Hospital Karachi
• Boston University School of Public Health
• Lucy Honig
• Dow Medical College
• Juba, Southern Sudan

References