Farooq Azam leads Options' Technical Assistance Management Agency, £9M programme of technical assistance to Pakistan's National Health and Population Facility (NHF). TAMA, funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) from 2004-2007, procures and manages technical assistance, providing targeted support to build the technical and management capacity of seven key areas of the Government of Pakistan's health programme, including HIV & AIDS, malaria, TB, nutrition, population welfare, the Lady Health Worker programme and immunisation in all four states. Farooq guides technical assistance to the health and population programmes of the Pakistan government, at federal, provincial and district levels. The main areas of support include policy reforms, planning, programme management and systems development.

 

During Farooq's tenure with TAMA, the NHF has increased the utilisation of public health services, particularly by the poor. TAMA also supported the establishment of a National Health Policy Unit, and assisted the Government of Pakistan to develop a maternal, newborn and child health policy. TAMA has established robust procurement guidelines along with sound monitoring and evaluation procedures for contracting technical assistance.

Before joining Options, Farooq was the Regional Representative for the International Organisation for Migration in Thailand. He also worked with the World Bank in Pakistan as the Senior Programme Coordinator for the Multi-donor Support Unit for the Social Action Programme.