Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah
Director General of Health Malaysia,
Ministry of Health, Malaysia

 

Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah is a Senior Consultant Surgeon in Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Putrajaya Hospital and the current Director General of Health Malaysia since March 2013. Prior to that, he was the Deputy Director General of Health (Medical) between January 2008 and February 2013.

He chairs multiple medical professional councils and national-level technical committees and is actively involved as a policymaker in global organisations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi). He is also a Councillor-at-Large (2017-2021) in the Executive Board of the International Society of Surgery (ISS) and chairs the Global Surgery Committee of ISS. In March 2020, he was elected as the Chairman of the Asian Association of Endocrine Surgeons.

Dr Noor Hisham has been conferred numerous local and international awards including the prestigious Fellowship Ad Hominem of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2018 for his contributions toward healthcare. In 2019, he was given the honour to deliver the distinguished Martin Allgöwer Lecture at the 48th World Congress of Surgery in Krakow, Poland.

For his exemplary leadership in managing the healthcare sector’s response in the COVID-19 pandemic, he was named as the ‘National Maal Hijrah Figure for 1442 Hijrah/2020’ and as his alma mater’s ‘Most Notable Alumni 2019’. These awards reflect the dedication, commitment, sacrifice and resilience of every individual in the Ministry of Health and various agencies to serve the nation in facing the pandemic.

His special interest lies in enhancing universal healthcare coverage to marginalised communities and bringing personalised healthcare back to the community and home through digital technology and creative innovation.