Dr. Suraya Dalil

Suraya Dalil was born 1970 in Kabul and went to medical school in Afghanistan in the late 1980s Ms. Dalil’s family remained in Kabul until she graduated from medical school in 1991. 1992, just months after she graduated from the Kabul Medical Institute the Najibullah regime fell and the Muhajedin took over. Dalil moved more than 150 miles north with her parents, two sisters, and two brothers to Mazar-e-Sharif.

Dr Suraya Dalil was officially introduced as Deputy Minister for Policy and Planning and Acting Minister of MoPH. The ceremony convened in this regard at MoPH was attended by Prof. Nematullah Shahrani, Dr Najibullah Mujadadi and Dr Faizullah Kakar Advisors to the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Members of Parliament, High Ranking Governmental Officials, Representatives from International Community and UN Agencies, MoPH stakeholders and scores of health professionals.

Talking to the gathering Dr Nadira Hayat Burhani Deputy Minister for the Provision of Health Care Services of MoPH, felicitated the appointment of Dr Dalil on her new job as Deputy Minister for Policy and Planning and Acting Minister for the Ministry of Public Health. She has also mentioned the achievements accomplished during last five years under the leadership of Dr. SMA Fatimie the former Minister of Public Health. Dr Hayat added that Ministry of Public Health has succeeded to raise a large amount of fund from donor community from 2004 to 2009 to support Health & Nutrition Sector in Afghanistan with the focus on the most vulnerable groups of people women and children.

She mentioned that with the diligent efforts by MoPH, and generous support from our donor and partners, it has become possible to reduce Under 5 Mortality Rate by around 38%. Taking the progress in the proxy indicators for Maternal Health we hypothesized there would be around 30 to 40 percent cutback in Maternal Mortality. However, maternal and child health indicators are still daunting in Afghanistan and there is a long way to go.

Later on, Professor Nematullah Shahrani Advisor to President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan appreciated the efforts made by Dr SMA Fatimie former Minister of Public Health. He added: I am introducing Dr Suraya Dalil as Deputy Minister for Policy and Planning and Acting Minister of MoPH and wish her success and prosperity in her new job.

Then, Prof. Shahrani said that the present leadership of Ministry of Public Health is urged to keep all their efforts up in order to contribute to the improvement of health status of people of Afghanistan with focus on mothers and children.

Dr Suraya Dalil admired the efforts made by her colleagues in the Ministry of Public Health and emphasized that she will spare no efforts to improve the health status of Afghan people in future. She mentioned that balanced development, program oriented and objective oriented actions, health system strengthening, effective coordination between central and provincial level, provision of equitable services especially for the most vulnerable groups as well as team work would be her priorities. She put much more emphasis on accountability and transparency especially in procurement procedures and processes.

In the end of the session Dr Najibullah Mujadadi and Dr Faizullah Kakar Advisors to the President of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan expressed their kindest regards to Dr Suraya Dalil and wish her success in her new job.