Zulfiqar Bhutta

MBBS, DCH, FRCP, FRCPCH, FCPS, FAAP, PhD

Robert Harding Chair in Global Child Health, Co-Director, SickKids Centre for Global Child Health, Senior Scientist The Hospital for Sick Children; Professor Department of Pediatrics, Nutritional Sciences, and Public Health, University of Toronto; Founding Director, Center of Excellence in Women and Child Health and Institute for Global Health and Development, The Aga Khan University South-Central Asia, East Africa, United Kingdom

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For the development and evaluation of evidence-based interventions in child and maternal health for marginalized populations, focusing on outcomes for the ‘first thousand days’ of life.

The Work:

Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta’s career has focused on the improvement of child and maternal health and nutrition among marginalized and rural populations, using evidence based strategies and interventions to improve outcomes in the “first thousand days” of life (pregnancy, childbirth, and the first two years of life). Developing a unique collaboration between centres in Pakistan, United Kingdom and Canada, Bhutta has mobilized cluster randomized effectiveness trials (cRCTs) to gather data used to shape and improve intervention packages for community based maternal and newborn care, nutrition, and early childhood development.

The Impact:

Dr. Bhutta’s work has been the foundation of multiple international guidelines, including changing WHO policy on the treatment of persistent diarrhea and malnutrition along with establishing lady health workers (LHW) as foundational members of community-based interventions in Pakistan, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Further, his work provided the basis for the “Lancet 10” nutritional interventions used to inform global policy on malnutrition. Over the last two decades, his work on evidence-based interventions has helped guide global action plans to improve newborn health and survival. His rigorous approach to investigation has also challenged conventional wisdom, illustrating both the possibilities and limitations of vital interventions like community health workers.

Dr. Bhutta has worked extensively in low resource areas, using sustainable interventions that are available and affordable to disadvantaged populations. Through systematic investigation and analysis, he has established the foundations for current understandings of maternal and child health in rural, remote and conflict affected regions, and improved the survival and outcomes of world’s most vulnerable women and children.