Dr Zafar Mirza is Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Health. Earlier, he was Director Health System Development at the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Eastern Mediterranean in Cairo, Egypt. Dr Mirza has also served as acting WHO Representative in Iran; and as team leader Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property at WHO, Geneva. He is also the Founding National Coordinator of The Network for Consumer Protection in Pakistan. An Eisenhower Fellow and Britannia Scholar, Dr Mirza’s important national contributions include Prohibition of Smoking in Enclosed Places and Protection of Non-smokers Health Ordinance 2002; Protection of Breast-feeding and Child Nutrition Ordinance 2002; the first National Essential Medicines List; the first National Medicines Policy; and conceptualisation of the Drug Regulatory Authority.