Dr Thushara Fernando

WHO Representative to Myanmar

Dr Thushara Fernando, WHO Representative to Myanmar, is a Sri Lankan national with over 15 years of technical and leadership experience at the WHO.

He is a medical doctor and a public health professional. Dr. Fernando graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from the University of Colombo and completed his post graduate studies with a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the California State University in Long Beach and a doctorate (MD, Community Medicine), from the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine, in Sri Lanka.

Before joining the WHO, Dr. Fernando had nearly 20 years of work experience working at the National Institute of Health Sciences and the Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka in many roles, including from 2000 to 2004 when he was the Director (Planning) at the Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka.

Since 2004 he has been serving WHO in many capacities, being a National Professional Officer in the Country Office in Sri Lanka, Technical Officer in the Southeast Asian Regional Office and at the Country Office in Nepal. He also served as the Regional Planning Coordinator for WHO SEARO from 2010 to 2012.

In 2012 he became the WHO Representative in Bangladesh and in 2015 to mid-2019 was the WHO Representative in Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea).

Dr. Fernando has over 35 years of accumulated professional experience in the areas of public health and health systems strengthening, including health policy assessment and analysis, health policy development and modification, health systems planning, monitoring and evaluation, health reforms, managing public health emergencies, and in health administration and management.