Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh is a globally respected public health leader and policy strategist who served as regional director of the World Health Organization’s South-East Asia Region (WHO SEARO), becoming the first woman to hold the position when she assumed office in February 2014. An Indian national with a PhD in public health and a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, she has devoted more than three decades to advancing health systems, policy innovation, and equitable access to healthcare across national and global platforms.

Before leading WHO SEARO, she built an extensive career as a senior member of the Indian Administrative Service, where she held key health leadership roles, including Secretary of Health and Family Welfare in Punjab, followed by senior positions with the World Bank’s Health, Population and Nutrition division and WHO headquarters in Geneva. She also served as WHO Deputy Regional Director for South-East Asia for over a decade, gaining deep experience in managing complex public health programs and international health partnerships.

During her tenure as regional director, Dr. Singh drove transformative health progress across a region representing nearly a quarter of the world’s population. Her strategic vision emphasized universal health coverage, health system resilience, emergency preparedness, and evidence-based policy, anchored by flagship priority programs that helped achieve major milestones such as sustaining polio-free status, eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus, advancing malaria elimination, reducing maternal and child mortality, and strengthening responses to non-communicable diseases and public health emergencies.

Recognized globally for her leadership and impact, she has received international honors, including Bhutan’s National Order of Merit Gold Medal for advancing regional health outcomes and strengthening healthcare systems. Through her commitment to innovation, collaboration, and inclusive health governance, Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh has left a lasting legacy in global public health leadership and regional health transformation.