GENEVA, CMC – Bahamian Dr. Merceline Dahl-Regis has been recognized for her lifelong contribution to public health in the Americas and globally with the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General’s Global Health Leaders Award.
The award was presented during the ongoing 79th World Health Assembly (WHA79), which ends here on Saturday.
The WHO said that Dr. Dahl-Regis has played a defining role in advancing disease elimination, immunization, maternal and child health, and primary health care across the Region of the Americas.
“A longtime collaborator of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), she is internationally recognized for her leadership in the regional verification process that led the Americas to become the first region in the world declared free of measles,” it said.
The WHO said that throughout her distinguished career, Dr. Dahl-Regis has championed equitable access to health services and strengthened regional public health cooperation. As Chief Medical Officer of The Bahamas, she spearheaded key initiatives in adolescent health and maternal and child care, while also contributing to regional efforts to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.
“Dr. Dahl-Regis is a distinguished public health leader whose lifelong commitment to improving health has transformed lives across the Americas and beyond,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
He said that, through her outstanding leadership in disease elimination, she helped lead the Americas to become the first region in the world to be declared free of measles and rubella.
PAHO Director, Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, said the Bahamian medical practitioner represents the “very best of public health in the Americas: visionary leadership, unwavering commitment to equity, and a lifelong dedication to improving people’s lives.
“Her contributions to disease elimination, immunization, and primary health care have left a lasting legacy across our Region and continue to inspire generations of public health professionals.”
In 2018, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) recognized Dr. Dahl-Regis as a Public Health Hero of the Americas for her extraordinary contributions to regional and global health.
“I thank you for this recognition, which I humbly accept on behalf of the many public health professionals, environmental health workers, and health care providers in The Bahamas, the Caribbean, the Americas, and around the world,” said Dr. Dahl-Regis on receiving the award.
“Throughout my journey, I have been guided by exceptional mentors; however, my greatest teachers have been the children — their courage and enduring hope remind us why our work matters.”
Addressing the WHA79 delegates, she recognized that public health, global cooperation, and science have saved billions of lives, improved the quality of life, and protected future generations from dangerous diseases. However, she said urgent challenges remain, as millions still lack access to essential health care.
“We must act now. Our humanity is inseparable from our responsibility to preserve dignity and expand opportunity for all. Cooperation must remain our guiding principle. Solidarity remains essential. We have done it before, and we can do it again — and do it even better.”
