Dr Magda Robalo

Dr Magda Robalo is an accomplished global health leader, a seasoned diplomat with fine political skills. 
She aims for equitable access to quality health care for all, gender equality and social justice, nurtures 
and promotes a culture of ethics and integrity, driven by inclusion and diversity.

She is the President and co-founder of the Institute for Global Health and Development (IGHD), 
established in December 2021, as a private, not-for-profit Foundation, focused on
promoting equitable access to quality health care and equal opportunities for all. 

She is a Co-chair of the UHC2030 Steering Committee and a Global Ambassador for the G20 and G7 
Health and Development Partnership. 

She led transformative reforms of the health sector as Minister of Public Health and led the national 
response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as High Commissioner for COVID-19 in Guinea-Bissau. 
From 2020-2025 she exercised a leadership role at the Ethics and Governance Committee of the Global 
Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, on two subsequent terms as Chair and Vice-Chair.

Dr Robalo was Director, Communicable Diseases, WHO Representative to Namibia and Ghana and 
Malaria Regional Advisor, among other senior leadership positions held during her career with the 
World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa. As WHO Representative to Ghana, she 
played a major leadership role in the technical, political, and diplomatic fronts across the UN and 
beyond, on the fight against the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. 

In 2023, she was a recipient of the AHAIC Women in Global Health Awards. In 2024 she was profiled 
at the Lancet and inducted as Distinguished Fellow of the West Africa Academy of Public Health.