Mahesh Sharma has more than twenty five years of experience in programme development and management including policy development and policy analysis in the area of health, HIV/AIDS, TB (inducing National Strategy Application – GF), community development. He has written number of successful national proposals to Global Fund for HIV/AIDS and TB; prepared national HIV/AIDS strategy and budgeted work plans. He has worked with the Government, Save the Children (UK), BNMT, UNDP in Nepal and has taken HIV/AIDS related assignments in the region (Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, UNAIDS Regional support team at Bangkok). Has worked extensively in Global Fund related work particularly in CCM strengthening (Nepal, Solomon Islands) and CCM eligibility performance assessment (EPA). He has also carried out number of evaluations, assessments (including National AIDS Spending Assessment – NASA) and health programme reviews.
He is actively involved in various civil society organisations and has represented in national institutions in various capacity i.e. Board member in Govt, HIV/AIDS and STI Control Board (2008 – 2010), CCM technical subcommittee members (2005 – 2008) and member in oversight committee (Jan – July 2012) including technical review panel and peer reviewers, and BNMT/UK Board of Trustees (2006 – 2010).
He has authored/co-authored number of articles in national and international journals, made presentation at international conferences and seminar within country and outside.
Dr Buddha Basnyat
Vice-Chair
Dr Buddha Basnyat, a graduate of St. Xavier’s Godavari, is a medical doctor practicing medicine in Kathmandu, Nepal. His research interests are infectious disease and high altitude medicine both of which are in ample supply in Nepal. He has published widely in both these fields in prestigious medical journals and written chapters with co- authors in the latest standard medical textbooks( for example, Harrison’s Textbook of Internal Medicine, Oxford Textbook of Medicine, and Manson’s Tropical Diseases). He has almost 300 publications in peer-reviewed medical journals, in all likelihood more than anyone else from Nepal. He is the Director for the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit\Nepal and is also the Medical Director for the Travel and Mountain Medicine Center (a travel medicine clinic), The Himalayan Rescue Association (dealing with high altitude medical problems), and the Mountain Medicine Society of Nepal. In all these institutions one of his primary interest is to encourage young people to do clinical research. He also works at Patan Hospital as a consultant in the internal medicine department and is a Professor of Physiology at the Patan Academy of Health Sciences. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and also a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh). He is also the Principal Investigator at Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. He is the Honorary Consul for Canada in Nepal.
Dr Poonam Rishal is a medical doctor with a PhD in Public Health. She is a mixed-method researcher working on interdisciplinary issues related to gender and gender-based violence for more than a decade. Dr Rishal has been collaborating with international research agencies of both Low and Middle Income Countries and High Income Countries on various kinds of research such as Randomized Control Trials and intervention research, to improve the quality of care for victims/ survivors of domestic violence, improve safety for women and girls, LGBTQI+ and persons with disability. Human-centric designs are very important to her. She has been co-designing research with user groups and stakeholders. She uses a gender-based analysis plus framework in most of her work.
Dr Rishal is a passionate teacher with well-rounded skills in preparing lectures, assignments, assessment of assignments, and designing courses and educational materials. She has designed a course, Gender in Health: Methods and Meaning for the MSc. in Public Health at Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences in Nepal.
Dr Poonam Rishal is a very appreciated colleague in teaching and research. She is also acknowledged as an expert in her field and serves as an advisor for NGOs, INGOs, and the ministry level. She was a former Think Tank member within the Gender Section at the Prime Minister’s office in Nepal.
Dr Kulesh Bahadur Thapa
Member Secretary
Dr Kulesh Bahadur Thapa is a Consultant Paediatrician and Head of the Department of the Paediatric Department at Nepal Police Hospital since 1985. He completed his MD from People’s Friendship University (Russia) in 1990. He gained Diploma in Child Health from Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (Nepal) in 1990.
He started his career as an Inspector of Police and retired holding the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police. He also had added responsibility of Administrative Division of the Hospital as he rose in ranks.
He is involved in public health and adolescent health and started an adolescent health counselling service at the Police Hospital.
He has been involved in the development of the SOP of the Hospital disaster Preparedness Plan. He looks after the children’ health of the police and their family, and also the disaster management aspect of the hospital, organization and preparation of the staff. He is also a designer and instructor for the Basic Search and Rescue Training for the community. He is a team member and the lead trainer for the MFR training in the UNDP project of CBDRR program of the Chhatrapati Free Clinic. He is a monitor for the Helping Babies Breathe Programme which is introduced in Kathmandu hospitals and in the country since 2013.
Heem S. Shakya
Executive Member
Heem S. Shakya is a health system strengthening expert with more than 20 years of professional working experience in Nepal, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Afghanistan. He specialized in procurement and supply chain management of the public health sector. He is also well-versed in public health programs like family planning, maternal and child health, sexual reproductive health and rights, HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria. He has served as an oversight committee member Country Coordination Mechanism (CCM) at the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) for The Global Fund Programs – HIV/TB/Malaria from 2018 to 2021. He was a lead National Consultant, to develop a Procurement and Supply Management of HIV/AIDs commodities as part of the National HIV Strategy Plan 2016 – 2021.
During his 20+ years of professional career, he has developed and implemented community-based health programs and interventions and carried out studies and assessments that have strengthened the health systems of the countries. He has worked and held key positions with JSI, USAID | DELIVER, GHSC-PSM, POSSIBLE, UNFPA, SAVE, USP/PQM+, and WHO. He has published many articles in national and international journals and authored two books – “Transformed”, an autobiography, and “Effective Health Logistics for Better Health Services”.
Santosh Gyawali
Executive Member
Santosh Gyawali is engaged in the field of Disaster Risk Management in Nepal. He has a master’s degree in Information Technology with more than 20 years of experience in Information Resource Management. Immediately after the Haiti earthquake he changed career and got involved in disaster risk management work. He also served as the General Secretary and Vice President of Health Care Foundation Nepal with the National Kidney Centre as its largest operations.
Shobhana Gurung Pradhan
Executive Member
Shobhana Gurung Pradhan has over 24 years of experience working in organisational management and leadership. Currently the Country Director of BBC Media Action in Nepal, she has also served in a similar capacity with BNMT. She has previously worked with a bi-lateral and multilateral agencies, International non-governmental organisations, local civil society and the private sector.
An MBA graduate from AIT Thailand, she gained her BSC Degree from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines and further training in management and development in Australia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
Surya Kiran Gurung
Executive Member
Surya Kiran Gurung has more than 35 years of experience in International Law and Foreign Affairs. He is a lawyer by profession, having received LLM degrees from Canada and India. He started his career as a law teacher in Tribhuvan University, Nepal and taught law for almost 9 years.
He worked for the parliament of Nepal as Secretary of the House of Representatives then as the Secretary General of the Parliament of Nepal for almost 16 years. He returned to Nepal after completing his tenure as Ambassador of Nepal to the Russian Federation. He has participated and presented working papers in various National, Regional and International forums. He also has wide experience as legal consultant for different firms, NGOs, INGOs and Regional Office of the World Bank, Manila, the Philippines. He is also a recipient of Ashoka Fellowship, USA and has received training at Hague Academy of International Law, the Netherlands.
At present, he is engaged with different organizations as Chairperson or Executive member of the Board.
Sunita (name changed) is a 51-year-old housewife living in a remote village Simalghari in Chitwan district. She belongs to a poor family. Although suffering from poverty, she has lived a happy life. One day after returning from her father’s house,...
Covid Kurakani Panel Discussion Series