H.E Dasho Dechen Wangmo

H.E Dasho Dechen Wangmo

H.E Dasho Dechen Wangmo is the Former Minister for Health of the Royal Government of Bhutan. She was the only female Minister in the cabinet during her tenure and formally took charge of the Ministry of Health on 7th November 2018. Prior to joining politics in 2018, Her Excellency worked as a public health international consultant with a primary focus on health systems, governance, policy, and strategic planning for governments and civil societies in many countries (USA, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, PNG, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Senegal). She brought with her a rich background in global health issues, including health system strengthening, health governance, grant implementation, and monitoring and evaluation systems.

On 17th December 2020, in recognition of her outstanding service to the Nation, she was conferred the “Red Scarf,” one of the highest honors a Bhutanese civilian can receive, by His Majesty the King. Her Excellency is a passionate public health advocate and a social worker at heart. Hon’ble Lyonpo was nominated as the President of the 74th World Health Assembly (WHA) by Member States of the WHO’s South-East Asia Region in 2020. She held the office of the President for a duration of one year—an honour bestowed on Bhutan for the first time since it became a member of the WHO in 1982.

Besides her membership in professional organizations, she is also the founder of the Bhutan Cancer Society, a CSO working for the well-being of cancer patients in Bhutan, and the founding chairperson of Lhaksam, Bhutan’s HIV-positive network. Her Excellency holds a Master in Public Health (MPH) from Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, USA, and a Bachelor in Cardiopulmonary Science (magna cum laude) from Northeastern University, Boston, USA.