Senior Advisor, Primary Health Care and Lead, Health Systems Resilience and Essential Public Health Functions, WHO HQ Geneva

Dr Saikat is an expert in health systems resilience employing a public health approach. He has 20 years of experience in health policy, planning and reform underpinning integrated approach to health systems strengthening. Within WHO HQ, he is responsible for the health systems resilience and essential public health functions (EPHFs) portfolio including health systems input to IHR (2005) monitoring and national planning and emergency response. In the context of COVID-19, he coordinated the WHO’s position for country support in health systems recovery to achieve UHC and health security as interdependent objectives. Post-COVID19, he has been advising the Governments of Germany, Irelands, Azerbaijan and Zimbabwe in public health reforms including national public health institutes development. He coedited a special collection in the journal Frontiers in Public Health on ‘Health Systems Recovery in the context of COVID-19 and protracted conflict’ (https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/38177/health-systems-recovery-in-the-context-of-covid-19-and-protracted-conflict) with 25 articles. He is a Fellow (by distinction) of Faculty of Public Health (FFPH) UK.