Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has constituted a new Search and Nomination Committee to recommend members for the Board of Governors (BoG) of the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, ending months of uncertainty after the federal health ministry withdrew an earlier summary for the board’s appointment in May 2025, leaving the country’s premier public health institution without a governing body since March 2024.
According to a notification issued by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination on February 4, 2026, the committee has been formed under Section 5 of the NIH (Reorganisation) Act, 2021, superseding an earlier notification issued in July 2024.
The committee has been directed to recommend suitable candidates for appointment as members of the NIH Board of Governors with immediate effect.
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, Dr Tanvir Khalique, 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 country director Dr Zeba Sattar, and Dr Nusratullah Chaudhary, a gastroenterologist at Surgimed Hospital Lahore.
NIH has remained without a legally mandated Board of Governors since March 2024, a vacuum that officials say has weakened oversight, slowed key decisions and raised concerns about financial scrutiny and governance at the institute.
The absence of a board also blocked the health ministry’s effort to appoint the heads of two key institutes of NIH. The Establishment Division refused to clear the move, citing the law, which requires a duly constituted Board of Governors to oversee and approve the process of advertising, shortlisting and interviewing candidates for senior executive positions.
Officials say this intervention prevented potentially irregular appointments.
The fresh move follows a controversial reversal last year, when the health ministry recalled a summary sent to the federal cabinet for the appointment of the NIH Board of Governors.
The panel of six names had been finalised by a high-powered search committee led by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal after months of consultations under the prime minister’s supervision. The candidates had been nominated by medical universities and institutions and cleared by intelligence agencies before being forwarded for cabinet approval.
The recall of the summary triggered unease within the health and planning ministries, with senior officials at the time describing it as a setback to a legally mandated process and warning that it had paralysed governance at NIH.
Under the NIH Act 2021, the Board of Governors is responsible for approving budgets, reviewing expenditures, overseeing disease surveillance and research, and providing overall governance to the institute and its centres.
Officials say that in the absence of the board, expenditures for the fiscal year 2023–24 could not be formally reviewed, creating legal gaps in financial oversight. Budget processes for 2024–25 and 2025–26 were also carried out without the mandatory approval of the Board of Governors, in violation of the law.
Several NIH centres established under the Act are currently operating without formally appointed executive directors, affecting planning and implementation of public health programmes. Particular concern has been expressed about the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) at NIH, which is responsible for monitoring disease trends, coordinating outbreak responses across provinces and ensuring Pakistan’s compliance with the International Health Regulations.
Officials warn that the prolonged absence of a functional governing board has weakened strategic oversight at a time when Pakistan is facing recurring outbreaks and rising public health risks.
Health ministry officials said the constitution of a new search and nomination committee is meant to restart the stalled process and bring NIH back within the governance framework prescribed under the law. However, they cautioned that unless the committee’s recommendations are taken to the cabinet without further delays, NIH may continue to operate in a legal grey area.
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