March 31, 2023, Senator Sania Nishtar joined the strategy retreat of the WHO Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research in London from March 29-31. The purpose of the retreat was to review the context in which the Alliance operates, current health trends and priorities, gaps in policy and systems research as well as the landscape of global health research and to provide insights on a way forward. The retreat was chaired by Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand.

March 29, 2023: Senator Sania Nishtar joined as a speaker at an event held at the UK House of Parliament. This event was hosted by Baroness Finlay head of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health and the Chatham House Commission for Universal Health. The event was titled Crisis as a catalyst: Reforming Universal Health Coverage for 2030 and beyond”. Other speakers included Rt Hon Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand; former Jeanette Vega, Minister of Chile; Rob Yates and Ayoade Alakija.

24^th March 2023: In a recently published op-ed in The News International, Senator Dr. Sania Nishtar has accentuated that instead of leveraging the infrastructure of Ehsaas Rashan Riayat- an existing, tried and tested targeted subsidy programme, the present government chose to implement an entirely new, parallel programme, without due diligence and evidence-based design. Interim governments of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have recently launched a free atta (flour) initiative. This initiative, which aims to give families some relief from unprecedented food inflation during Ramadan is seriously flawed in its design.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1053264-subsidy-gone-wrong

14^th March 2023: Lancet has published a comment, “It is time for ambitious, transformational change to the epidemic countermeasures ecosystem”. This is authored by Helen Clark, Senator Dr. Sania Nishtar, Marcos da Silva Freire, Petro Terblanche and other members of the group.  

https://thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)00526-3/fulltext

12^th March 2023: Dr Sania Nishtar was invited to keynote the Convocation ceremony of Namal University in Mianwali, Pakistan. Namal University is a one of a kind University where the expenses of more than 95% of the students are underwritten by the university. In her address, she stressed upon the importance of contribution to nation building during the current crises which Pakistan is facing.

10^th March 2023: A ceremony was held in I-10 Markaz Islamabad wherein cash grant worth Rs. 2.4 million was distributed among 28 Ehsaas Rehribaans. Their vending carts had been destroyed by the government and authorities in Islamabad. Senator Dr. Sania Nishtar was the chief guest at the event. The cash assistance for Rehribaan was donated by Pakistanis in Dubai and fundraising was done by Dr. Hadia.

1^st March 2023: Senator Dr. Sania Nishtar was invited to keynote the 14^th Health Science Research Academy. The event was hosted by Aga Khan University. Dr. Sania shared lessons and experiences from Ehsaas programme.