Dr Luo Dapeng, a Chinese national, was appointed WHO Representative in Pakistan on 1 February 2024. He was previously the WHO Representative in Afghanistan, where for 3 years he led one of the biggest WHO operations in the country. Dr Luo also served as WHO Representative in Papua New Guinea for about 4 years.

Dr Luo has been working in the field of international public health for more than 24 years. His rich experience spans communicable diseases and prevention and control of emerging diseases; country capacity-building for health security; and health system strengthening, particularly at the primary health care level. He has also led the management of complex emergencies and coordination of humanitarian health response.

Before becoming a country representative, Dr Luo spent 4 years as a team leader in Health Security and Communicable Diseases at the WHO Country Office in Lao People’s Democratic Republic. He also worked for 6 years as a medical officer in the Health Security and Communicable Diseases team of the WHO Country Office in Mongolia.

Other roles he has held with WHO include that of scientist, in the area of malaria and other vector-borne and parasitic diseases, in Papua New Guinea and epidemiologist at WHO headquarters. Before joining WHO, Dr Luo was an advisor with the Asian Development Bank in Indonesia.

Before starting his career in international public health, Dr Luo worked with China’s national malaria control programme, carrying out extensive field work. In this role, he led a field team for Plasmodium falciparum malaria elimination in the south of Henan province, China, for over 10 years.

Dr Luo obtained his medical degree from Henan Medical University, China, and trained in medical parasitology and entomology at the National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. He holds an MSc in Epidemiology and a PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, United Kingdom.