Dasho Dechen Wangmo heads the PEMA Secretariat, Bhutan’s national agency for mental health and child protection. She previously served as Bhutan’s first female Minister for Health (2018–2023), leading major health reforms and the national COVID-19 response with distinction. Before entering politics, Dasho Dechen worked as an international public health consultant, providing technical assistance on health systems strengthening, governance, and strategic planning across nine countries in the Southeast Asia region . She is the founder of the Bhutan Cancer Society and Lhaksam, Bhutan’s network of people living with HIV, and has served as an Advisory Board Member of the Bhutan Foundation for nearly a decade. Her contributions have been recognized with several national honors, including the Red Scarf in 2020, one of Bhutan’s highest civilian distinctions and the National Order of Merit (Gold) in 2016 from His Majesty the King. Internationally, she has served as President of the 74th World Health Assembly (2021), Executive Board Member of WHO, Board Member of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and Member of the Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance. Dasho Dechen holds a Master of Public Health (Global Health Epidemiology) from the Yale School of Public Health and a Bachelor’s in Cardiopulmonary Science (Magna Cum Laude) from Northeastern University, USA. She was also honored with Yale’s Distinguished Alumni Award.