Designation

President

Description

Currently working as a Senate Member in the Kathmandu University and a Policy Advisor to the Ministry of Health and Population, Dr. Rita Thapa pioneered the training and using of community based Health Aids to reach out the rural mothers and children with basic package of MCH-FP services at the time of virtual absence of health professionals.  She graduated as MBBS from the King George Medical College, Lucknow, India. She holds the Master degree in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA and her Postgraduate Certificate in Project Analysis and Management Training from Tribhuwan University, Nepal. Dr. Thapa joined the World Health Organization in 1986, working in the Manila, Geneva, and New Delhi offices. Dr. Thapa was the first woman Director in the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia before retiring in 2001. She has since been a member of Nepal’s High Level Health Policy Advisory Committee, the National AIDS Council, the Poverty Alleviation Fund and the Country Coordination Committee for Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. She also chaired the Nepal Chapter of the South Asia Foundation. Dr. Rita Thapa was presented with the ‘Distinguished Alumna Award’ by The John Hopkins University in 2019.