Dr Balkhy has launched a strategic operational plan to guide the organization’s regional mission of strengthening national capacities to provide better public health services for all people in the Region. The plan includes three flagship initiatives to strengthen support for Member States: expanding equitable access to medical products; investing in a resilient and sustainable health workforce; and accelerating public health action on substance use. These initiatives are aimed to address key bottlenecks and accelerate progress towards implementing the strategic operational plan and achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals.

Dr Balkhy was previously Assistant Director-General for Antimicrobial Resistance at WHO headquarters. Prior to this, she was Executive Director for Infection Prevention and Control, Ministry of National Guard, Saudi Arabia. She led the Gulf Cooperation Council Centre for Infection Control and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Infection Prevention and Control and Antimicrobial Resistance, Saudi Arabia.

A graduate of King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia, Dr Balkhy completed her paediatric residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, United States of America. She later completed a paediatric infectious diseases fellowship with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and Case Western Reserve University, USA.