ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday appointed Dr Faisal Sultan as the country's new health chief, just days after Dr Zafar Mirza resigned.
Sultan for years served as the CEO of Shaukat Khanum Hospital, which was founded by PM Khan, and in March this year was appointed the PM's focal person on the coronavirus.
"The Prime Minister has been pleased to appoint Dr Faisal Sultan as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination with immediate effect," a statement from the PM office said. Sultan will hold the status of a federal minister.
Last week, Pakistan’s de facto health minister Zafar Mirza stepped down in the middle of the pandemic citing criticism on his government’s advisers who hold dual nationality.
Mirza was among several special assistants to the prime minister, or SAPMs, who have faced criticism from opposition parties for being either a dual national or non-elected members of the parliament.
Another of the advisers, on digitization, Tania Aidrus resigned citing her dual citizenship. Mirza has not said he held any other nationality other than Pakistan in his asset declaration.
“Due to ongoing negative discussion about the role of SAPMs & criticism on the gov, I choose to resign,” he said in a statement on Twitter. “I am satisfied that I leave at a time when COVID-19 has declined in Pakistan.”
Pakistan has lately seen a downward trend in COVID-19 cases.