Professor Dr. Ram Padarath Bichha
Biography
Prof. Dr. Ram Padarath Bichha is a Member of the National Planning Commission/ Government of Nepal and oversees health sector at the Commission. Prior to this, he served as the Health Advisor to Rt. Honourable Prime Minister of Nepal and has played instrumental role in shaping array of national health initiatives.
Dr. Bichha is a distinguished public health paediatrician with over three decades of dedicated service in the government sector. As the former Director General of the Department of Health Services under the Ministry of Health and Population, he played a pivotal role in shaping national health policies and programs. His career has been marked by leadership in maternal and child health, communicable disease control, and the design of impactful health interventions. Dr. Bichha's extensive expertise in monitoring and evaluation, operational research, and multi-sectoral coordination has made him a trusted collaborator with both national and international health agencies, driving significant improvements in public health.
He has provided strategic leadership in numerous health programs and policies, such as the National Health Policy, the Immunization Act, and the comprehensive multi-year plan for immunization. His work also encompasses community-based newborn care, financial sustainability of immunization, nutrition gap analysis, demand-side financing of maternal health, community engagement, social inclusion, urban health, pandemic response, and vaccine development.
Dr. Bichha has also demonstrated his leadership in redesigning the core health system functions in a decentralized federal context of Nepal such as human resource for health, health information management systems, service delivery, financing of health programs with optimal technical and allocative efficiency of available resources in health sector. His unwavering commitment led to the successful scaling up of maternal and child health services, significantly expanding access to quality care for a broad segment of the population, particularly the poor and marginalized. Through his leadership, essential health services reached those most in need, fostering greater equity in healthcare delivery.