Noor Hisham bin Abdullah (né Yew Ming Seong; born 21 April 1963) is a Malaysian retired civil servant as well as breast and endocrine surgeon. He was the Director-General of Health and President of Malaysia Medical Council from March 2013 to his retirement in April 2023. Prior to the appointment, he served as the Deputy Director General of Health (Medical) from February 2008 to March 2013.
Hisham Abdullah was elected as the first chair for the World Health Organization (WHO) Standing Committee on Health Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (SCHEPPR). He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Drug for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi). For his contribution in Global Surgery Initiative, he was appointed as a member of Technical Advisory Group on Universal Health Coverage in the WHO Western Pacific Region (UHC TAG) as well as a member of transitional High-level Council for the Global Surgery Foundation.
Currently, he is the Chairman of National Heart Institute (Institut Jantung Negara), Chairman of UCSI Healthcare Group and Chancellor of Cyberjaya University.
Hisham Abdullah was a leading figure in Malaysia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the key figure in the effort to eliminate Hepatitis C in Malaysia and advancing Global Surgery initiative in the WHO Western Pacific Region and beyond.
Early life and education Born as Yew Ming Seong (姚明祥) on 21 April 1963 in Sepang, Selangor to a poor Chinese family of Fuzhounese descent, and is the second child out of three children. He spent his childhood in a kampung at Sungai Pelek. He was raised by his single mother after his parents separated since birth and had lived in the off Jalan Loke Yew's San Peng Flats, Pudu, Kuala Lumpur. He attended the Methodist Boys' School, Kuala Lumpur in Jalan Davidson.
Due to his family's poverty, Yew was adopted by an Ustaz of Kelantanese descent who was the principal of the Kolej Islam Klang (KIK) where he continued his upper secondary studies. He wanted to go into islamic studies in upper secondary school, but was convinced by the principal to pursue science due to his grades. He continued his pre-university education at Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah (SAS), Cheras. Later he married his adoptive father's daughter.
He obtained his primary medical degree in 1988, and Master in Surgery in 1994, both from National University of Malaysia (UKM). He went on to sub-specialise in breast and endocrine surgery through fellowship training in various universities in Adelaide and Sydney, Australia.
Medical and Healthcare Administration Career
Medical Practice (1988–2023) Hisham Abdullah started his medical career as a houseman at the Kuala Lumpur University Hospital in 1988, and later in the Accident and Emergency Department in 1989.
Upon receiving Master of Surgery, he was appointed as a general surgeon in Kuala Terengganu Hospital in 1994. After three years as a general surgeon, Hisham went on endocrinology fellowship training at various institutes in Australia.
Once returning from his fellowship in Australia, Hisham Abdullah was appointed as the head of the Breast and Endocrine Surgery Unit at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital in 1999. Three years later, in 2002, he took on the role of Head and Senior Consultant of Breast and Endocrine Surgery at Putrajaya Hospital, a position that he held until his retirement. Noor Hisham Abdullah was also the royal physician to the King of Malaysia during his clinical years.
As one of the pioneer in breast and endocrine surgery in Malaysia, Hisham Abdullah led the development of the service in the Ministry of Health, Malaysia. Through his leadership, an Endocrine Institute was built in Putrajaya Hospital. The new complex was officiated by then Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin in April 2022.
He is an expert in performing thyroidectomy under local anaesthesia, and incorporated acupuncture-assisted anaesthesia (AAA) in his technique. Hisham performed the first thyroidectomy with AAA at Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital, Ipoh with fellow consultant surgeon, Dr Yang Yang Wai, and Head of Anaesthesia Department, Dr Kavita M. Bhojwani in August 2015.
Hisham Abdullah has published in local and international journals, with a chapter entitled "Multinodular Goiter" in the Textbook of Endocrine Surgery, 2009 (Hubbard and C Y Lo, New York), and a chapter entitled "External Laryngeal Nerve" in the Textbook of Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery 2010 (Randolph G). He has been on the editorial review board for several journals such as the Asian Journal of Surgery, Malaysian Medical Journal, and World Journal of Surgery.
Hisham had several special appointments such as the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons foundation visitor in Hong Kong in 2008 and Goatcher Surgeon in Residence for the Royal Perth Hospital in 2013.
For his work in advancing technique in difficult and complex endocrine surgery, Hisham was frequently invited to present at the international surgical conferences. The most notable lecture was given at the 48th World Congress of Surgery in Krakow, Poland when he delivered the Martin Allgöwer opening lecture in 2019, and the British Journal of Surgery Lecture, entitled "Investigation and Management of Retrosternal Goitre" in the 2010 Annual Meeting of the British Association of Endocrine and Thyroid Surgeons (BAETS) in Birmingham.
In the recognition of his service to the breast and endocrine surgery, Hisham Abdullah was elected chair of the Global Surgery Committee of the International Society of Surgery (ISS) in 2017. Hisham was also elected as the President of the Asian Association of Endocrine Surgeons (AsianAES).
Hisham Abdullah received the Excellence Service Award in 2000 and 2004 for the recognition of his service in Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) and Putrajaya Hospital respectively. For his contributions in improving the nation’s health through various reforms and innovations coupled with the advancement of endocrine surgery, surgical training and research in Malaysia, Hisham was awarded the Fellowship Ad Hominem of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) in February 2018. Three years later, he was awarded an international medal by the RCSEd to recognise his contribution for the surgery in Malaysia.
Director-General of Health (2013–2023) Hisham Abdullah was the Deputy Director-General of Health (Medical) for five years from February 2008 before being promoted as the Director-General of Health in March 2013. He is one of the youngest Director-General of Health ever appointed by the Ministry of Health.
Role during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia Hisham Abdullah was the Director-General of Health in charge during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. In the National Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) formed by the Ministry of Health, the Director-General of Health chairs the Executive Committee for Disaster Management, which forms the central decision-making committee related to technical issues, with subsequent flow of command to a national technical committee, the National CPRC, and operations rooms at state as well as district levels. Hisham Abdullah was acknowledged for his role as a competent leader; effective manager, and diligent personnel in tackling the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.
Following the 2020 Malaysian political crisis, Hisham Abdullah stepped into COVID-19 press briefing during the political power vacuum period. In order to provide a clear risk communication and cultivate confidence from the nation during global health crisis, the cabinet agreed that Hisham should continue the national COVID-19 daily press briefing despite the appointment of the new Health Minister, Dr. Adham Baba, who was widely criticised when he falsely claimed that drinking warm water can protect from COVID-19.
Hisham's daily COVID-19 briefings were praised for their calm, clear delivery during the pandemic. He was acknowledged for effective crisis communication that reassured Malaysians since the commencement of the Movement Control Order (MCO). Daily press conference at 1700 hours, followed by press dialogues, strengthened the flow of information from the Ministry of Health to the nation. Through this regular press conferences, the Malaysian government deployed a consistent risk communication approach, through which Hisham emerged as a familiar, apolitical leader amid political calamity, representing frontline health care workers and serving as a trusted conveyor of relevant information.
On 6 April 2020, Hisham Abdullah announced that Malaysia had started the worldwide Solidarity Trial by the WHO to collect reliable data and compare the safety and effectiveness of four COVID-19 treatment protocols using different combinations of Remdesivir, Lopinavir/Ritonavir, Interferon beta, Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine.
In the same month of April 2020, Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) announced that Hisham had joined the COVID-19 Clinical Research Coalition to accelerate research into the pandemic in often neglected resource-poor settings.
The China Global TV Network (CGTN), had recognised Dr. Noor Hisham as among the “top doctors” of the world alongside America's Dr. Anthony Fauci and New Zealand's Dr. Ashley Bloomfield for the handling of COVID-19 pandemic. He also was named again among the COVID-19 heroic trio by Singaporean news outlet, The Independent.
Role in Improving Equity and Access to the Treatment of Hepatitis C and Eliminating Hepatitis C in Malaysia Malaysia as a developing country is often caught in a middle-income nation trap where some drugs are patented and access to new drugs is impossible due to exorbitant price despite the availability of generic drugs elsewhere. With the assistance of Third World Network (TWN), Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), and Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Hisham provided a leadership and direction to improve access and equity for the Hepatitis C treatment in Malaysia.
In 2017, the Ministry of Health, Malaysia initiated a negotiation with Gilead Sciences Inc for the voluntary license of a miracle drug for Hepatitis C, Sofosbuvir. Despite multiple efforts, negotiation broke down and forced Malaysia to issue compulsory license in an effort to increase accessibility of the drug which was previously priced at €43,000 for one person’s 12-week treatment of sofosbuvir. Due to the exorbitant price, the Ministry of Health, Malaysia then decided to trigger Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health (Doha Declaration) in 2001 by member nations of the World Trade Organisation, in order to bring down the cost of the treatment to USD300 per course thus sparking hostile legal backlash from Gilead Sciences Inc and the United States.
In response to Malaysia's action, Gilead then announced on Twitter that it had included Malaysia in the voluntary license for its wonder drug Sofosbuvir. Hisham faced gruelling cross-examinations by the patent lawyers and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) committee in Geneva to defend the country's decision to issue a compulsory license for Sofosbuvir.
In his leadership as the Director-General of Health, Malaysia also started a new drug trial for Hepatitis C treatment with DNDi. This then lead to the improvement in the treatment of Hepatitis C with much greater success cure rate with the introduction of Ravisdavir. It is the first drug produced through south-south collaboration to improve access and equity for the treatment of Hepatitis C. In August 2023, World Health Organization (WHO) included Ravidasvir in the list of essential medicine (EML).
Role in Advancing Global Surgery Initiative Through the Ministry of Health team, Hisham led Malaysia and WHO Western Pacific Region to develop the Action framework for Safe and Affordable Surgery in the WHO Western Pacific Region (2021-2030).