Doctor of Medicine (Madras University, India)

Bachelor of Medicine & Surgery (Punjab University, India)

Dr Meena Nathan Cherian graduated from Christian Medical College Ludhiana, Punjab, India. Following specialization in anaesthesiology from Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore, India, she continued in the faculty as professor of anesthesiology. She trained, worked, and taught anesthesia in several countries in Southeast Asia, Africa and USA (Johns Hopkins Hospital). Her clinical experience for several years in a rural mission hospital in India involved managing emergencies and performing surgeries for obstetrics and gynecology cases. She worked as the World Health Organization (WHO) Lead for Emergency and Essential Surgical Care Program at the WHO Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland, where she created the first WHO program for ‘surgical and anesthesia care’ resulting in the first World Health Assembly Resolution on ‘Emergency and Essential Surgical Care and Anesthesia in the context of Universal Health Coverage’. She served as an Hon. Prof. at the University of Western Ontario, WHO Collaborating Centre, Canada. She was a consultant at the Institute for Global Health, School of Medicine Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, S. Korea in the Essential Surgical Care for Primary Health Care Strengthening in Post-earthquake Gorkha Region Nepal project. Her current positions include Senior Advisor, Global Action, International Society of Geriatric Oncology, Switzerland; Adjunct Prof. Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hongkong; and Director, Global Health New Challenges: online courses, and Emergency and Surgical Care program, at the Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research, Geneva, Switzerland.

Selected Publications

1. Cherian MN, Merry AF, Wilson IH. The World Health Organization and Anaesthesia. Anaesthesia. 2007 Dec; 62 Suppl. 1:65-6. Review. 
2. Ozgediz D, Kijjambu S, Galukande M, Dubowitz G, Mabweijano J, Mijumbi C, Cherian M, Kaggwa S, Luboga S. Africa's neglected surgical workforce crisis. Lancet. 2008 Feb 23; 371(9613):627-8.
3. Luboga S, Macfarlane SB, von Schreeb J, Kruk ME, Cherian MN, Bergstrom S et al. Increasing access to surgical services in sub‐saharan Africa: priorities for national and international agencies recommended by the Bellagio Essential Surgery Group. PLoS. Med. 2009 December; 6 (12).
4. Duke T, Graham SM, Cherian MN, Ginsburg AS, English M, Howie S, Peel D, Enarson PM, Wilson IH, Were W. Oxygen is an essential medicine: a call for international action. The Union Oxygen Systems Working Group. Int. J Tuberculosis Lung Dis. 2010 November; 14 (11):1362-1368.
5. Cherian M, Choo S, Wilson I, Noël L, Sheikh M, Dayrit M, Groth S. Building and Retaining the Neglected Anaesthesia Health Workforce: Is it crucial for health systems strengthening through Primary Health Care? Bull. of the WHO. 2010 May.
6. Belle J, Cohen H, Shindo N, Lim M, Velazquez-Berumen A, Ndihokubwayo JB, Cherian M. Influenza preparedness in low-resource settings: a look at oxygen delivery in 12 African countries. Journal of Infection in Developing Countries. 2010 Aug 4; 4(7):419-24.
7. Vo D, Cherian MN, Bianchi S, Noël L, Lundeg G, Taqdeer A, Jargo B, Okello-Nyeko M, Kahandaliyanage A, Sentumbwe-Mugisa O, Ochroch A, Okello D, Abdoulie J, Ayankogbe O, Soyannwo O, Hoekman P, Bossyn P, Sani R, Thompson M, Mwinga S, Shyam P, Wekesa M, Toliva O, Kibatala P, McCunn M. Anesthesia Capacity in 22 LMICs. Journal of Anesthesia and Clinical Research 2012.
8. Ologunde R, Vogel JP, Cherian MN, Sbaiti M, Merialdi M, Yeats J. Assessment of Caesarean Delivery Availability in 26 LMICs: a Cross-Sectional Study. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2014.
9. McCord C, Kruk M, Mock C, Cherian M, Von Schreeb J, Russell R, English M. Organization of Essential Services and the Role of First-Level Hospitals, Chapter12, Surgical Platforms and Policies Part 3, Essential Surgery Volume, Disease Control Priorities 3^rd Edition, May 2015.
10. Ilbawi A, Cherian M, Mikkelson B, Sankaranarayanan R, Sullivan R. Access to basic surgical oncologic services in 54 countries: Where to go from here? Journal of Clinical Oncology 2015 33:15_suppl, e17525-e17525.
11. Martin J, Tau G, Cherian MN, Vergel de Dios J, Mills D, Fitzpatrick J, Adu-Krow W, Cheng D. Survey of the capacity for essential surgery and anaesthesia services in Papua New Guinea. British Medical Journal Open 2015 16; 5(12): e009841. Epub 2015 Dec 16.
12. Holmer H, Lantz A, Kunjumen T, Finlayson S, Hoyler M, Siyam A, Montenegro H, Kelley ET, Campbell J, Cherian MN, Hagander L. Global distribution of surgeons, anaesthesiologists, and obstetricians. Lancet Glob Health. 2015 Apr 27;3 Suppl. 2:S9-11. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(14)70349-3.
13. O’Neill KM, Greenberg SLM, Cherian M, Gillies RD, Daniels KM, Roy N, Raykar NP, Riesel JN, Spiegel D, David A. W, Gruen RL. Bellwether Procedures for Monitoring and Planning Essential Surgical Care in LMICs: Caesarean Delivery, Laparotomy, and Treatment of Open Fractures. World Journal of Surgery, 2016 (doi:10.1007/s00268-016-3614-y).
14. Shirwa SA, Jaffry Z, Cherian MN, Kunjumen T, Nkwowane AM, Leather AJM, Von Muhlenbrock HM, Kelley E, Campbell J. Surgical human resources according to types of health care facility: an assessment in LMICs. World Journal of Surgery. November 2017; 41(11):2667-2673.
15. Spiegel DA, Droti BI, Relan P, Hobson S, Cherian MN, K O’Neill. Retrospective review of Surgical Availability and Readiness in 8 African countries. British Medical Journal Open 2017;7: e014496. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014496.
16. Extermann M, Brian E, Cannin B, Cherian MN, Cheung KL, de Glas N, Devi B, Hamaker M, Kanesvaran R, Karnakis T, Kenis C, Musolino C, O’Donovan A, Soto-Perez de-Celis E, Steer C, Wildiers H. Priorities for the global advancement of care for older adults. Lancet Oncology 2020; Vol 22 e29-36.
17. Lubis N, Cherian MN, Venkatraman C, Fiemu E. Nwariaku FE. Global community perception of ‘surgical care’ as a public health issue: a cross sectional survey. BMC Public Health 21, 958, 2021.