Dr Muhammad Mahmood Afzal is a Medical Doctor with specialization in Health and Hospital Management. He is also specialist in Chest Medicine. He served at key positions in Punjab Health Department of Pakistan for about 16 years. Subsequently, he worked in World Health Organization (WHO) at its country, regional and global levels for more than 15 years. This extended professional experience provided him multi-dimensional knowledge, cutting-edge competencies and forward looking vision. He also gained persuasive insight and rich experience in multisectoral development while working as lead in community and city based health and development initiatives in various countries. Significantly, he led the country support team and coordinated international partners for health workforce development while working at Global Health Workforce Alliance. He also supported vital health programmes at World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva.

Dr Afzal, after retirement from WHO, is an advisor to a number of health organizations and member of several professional bodies such as ‘Global Think Tank on One Health’. In addition, he is founder and chairman of: i)- ‘Global Health and Medical Complex’, an entity for global health consultancy, professional teaching and training, promoting public health, acclimatizing international healthcare models, and providing quality medical services; and ii) ‘Polyversity International’, an institute for international and national studies and social transformation programs. The focus of both entities is developing the 21st century competencies among the youth and diverse professional groups.

Dr Afzal is author of several technical papers and books. With this backdrop, he is considered a global health expert and multidisciplinary writer, particularly for developing technical and policy documents, professional guidelines and tools, training materials and manuals, and organizational principles and protocols. He is also professional advisor, mentor and speaker in subject areas, like: management and leadership, good governance and transparency, sustainable development goals, socio-economic uplift, human resources development with continuous professional development, as well as self-development and life skills.

Dr Afzal possesses enlightened vision for promoting universal development, reforming operational and governance systems, galvanizing professionalism and enriching national leadership to cope with the challenges. Being a health professional, he has prime focus on health leadership development, upgrading health and hospital systems, enriching quality care in health settings, and outspreading success models of global health initiatives. In addition, he is committed towards human capital development, one of his major social goals. This forward-looking approach became possible due to his global experience and learning while working with the global partners and within the United Nations’ system.