Biography

Dr Deepa Gamage is a Public Health Specialist in Health, as a team lead for the Division of Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Control at the WHO Country Office for Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore, a position she has held since 2024. She previously served as a Consultant for Vaccination at the same office (2022–2023) and worked with the WHO Headquarters Measles and Rubella team in Geneva (2021–2022), supporting outbreak response and preventive strategies.

A medical doctor by training (MBBS, 1996), Dr Gamage holds a Master’s (2004) and an MD (2009) in Community Medicine from Sri Lanka, with further specialist training in Australia. Prior to joining WHO, she served Sri Lanka's Ministry of Health for over two decades, primarily at the National Epidemiology Unit, where she led and supported programmes on communicable disease control, immunization, noncommunicable diseases, health equity, healthy ageing, climate-related health threats, and public health emergency response.

Throughout her career, Dr Gamage has contributed to national, regional and global expert initiatives on vaccination, COVID-19 preparedness and response, healthy ageing, communicable and noncommunicable disease prevention. She currently provides strategic and technical support to countries in advancing resilient, equitable and people-centred health systems, with particular emphasis on prevention, health promotion, multisectoral action, and aligning health sector investments with national development priorities.