KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 — Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has appointed Mercy Malaysia founder Dr Jemilah Mahmood as his Special Advisor on Public Health.
The appointment was announced via the Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah’s Twitter account today.
Dr Jemilah is well known for her humanitarian work both at the domestic and international levels. She founded and led Mercy Malaysia, a medical relief organisation, from 1999 to 2009.
Dr Jemilah is the Under Secretary General for Partnerships at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
She was previously the Chief of the World Humanitarian Summit secretariat at the United Nations in New York. She has been the chief of the Humanitarian Response Branch at United Nations agency UNFPA and a Senior Fellow at Khazanah Nasional Berhad.
In 2006, she was one of 16 members appointed by then-United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the Advisory Group of the Central Emergency Response Fund.
Dr Jemilah has held many leadership positions in local and international non-government organisations and is the recipient of numerous national and international awards for her contribution to civil society and work in support of marginalised communities.
