Toomas Palu

Toomas Palu, MD, MPA, is the Adviser on Global Health Coordination in the World Bank office in Geneva. Before moving to Geneva Toomas served as the Global Practice Manager for the World Bank’s US$1.3B health portfolio of the East Asia and Pacific Region leading a team of 43 health and development professionals. Toomas is a member of the World Bank HNP Practice global leadership team. In his prior engagements, he led World Bank health programs in several countries in Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Union, served as a Director in the Estonia Social Health Insurance Fund Management Board and as a Deputy Director of the Tallinn Emergency Care Hospital in Estonia. His work has focused on health reforms and health systems strengthening in low and middle-income countries, sustainable transition of externally financed health programs, financing pandemic preparedness among others. Toomas has a cum laude Medical Doctor degree from the Tartu University in Estonia and a Master of Public Administration degree from the Harvard University in the US. He has also studied public policy and medical sociology in the Oxford University and health economics in the University of York in the UK.