Who Was Nafis Sadik? Doctor And Champion Of Women's Health Passes Away At 92

Pakistani doctor Nafis Sadik, a champion of women’s health and rights passed away at the age of 92. Sadik was the Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General and is survived by her five children.

Nafis Sadik’s son Omar Sadik said that his mother died of natural causes four days before her 93rd birthday on Sunday. She is best known for her contribution to improving the health of women and children.

Sadik spearheaded the action plan that recognised that women had the right to control their reproductive and sexual health. It was adopted by 179 countries at the 1994 United Nations population conference.

Who Was Nafis Sadik?

• Champion of women’s health and rights Nafis Sadik died of natural causes at her home in New York.
• Sadik had a Doctor of Medicine degree from Dow Medical College in Karachi. She began her career by working in the women’s and children’s wards in Pakistan Armed Forces hospitals.
• She served an internship in gynaecology and obstetrics at a hospital in Baltimore, Maryland and finished her further education at John Hopkins University.
• In 1966, Sadik joined the Pakistan Central Family Planning Council, a government agency that carries out the national family planning program. Four years later, she began the director-general of the agency.
• Sadik joined the UN Population Fund in 1971 and then became assistant executive director in 1977. In 1987, she was appointed executive director and became the first woman to head a voluntarily funded major UN program.
• In 1990, Sadik was appointed as the secretary-general of the fifth UN International Conference of Population and Development held in Cairo, Egypt.
• In 1994, Sadik headed the groundbreaking action plan which recognised that women have the right to control their reproductive and sexual health.
• Goals were set at the conference such as universal primary education in all countries, wider access for women to secondary and higher education, reduction of infant mortality, child mortality, and maternal mortality, and access to reproductive and sexual health services.
• The current executive director of the UN Population Fund, Natalia Kanem described Sadik as a “champion of choice and tireless advocate for women’s health, rights and empowerment.”
• Kanem added, “Her bold vision and leadership in Cairo set the world on an ambitious path”.

Suggested Reading: Nafis Sadik, Special Adviser To UN Secretary General Passes Away: Report