Afridi was born in Kohat, present day Pakistan, then part of pre-Partition India. He completed an MBChB at St Andrews in 1923, returning for an MD in 1931.

Malariology in the Indian Medical Service

Afridi received a diploma from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (1924) before joining the Indian Medical Service (IMS), where he specialised in the study of malaria.

From 1936 to 1940, he left the IMS and served as assistant director of the Malaria Institute of India, leading malarial surveys across Delhi, Bahrain, Uttar Pradesh and Terai.

During World War II, Afridi rejoined the IMS where he developed anti-malarial programmes to prevent troop morbidity and mortality. He was promoted to Local Brigadier and awarded an OBE (1944) and CBE (1946).

Health services in Pakistan

With the Partition of India (1947), Afridi returned to Pakistan, establishing the Malaria Institute of Pakistan and the Bureau of Laboratories in Karachi. Later in his career, he served as Director of Health Services in the North-West Frontier of Pakistan.

Leading world health

 Afridi developed close ties with the emerging World Health Organization (WHO), founded in 1948 as the public health branch of the United Nations.

He served briefly as WHO Deputy Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. In 1962, he was elected Chair of the Executive Board of the WHO, presiding over the 17th World Health Assembly in Geneva.

Monowar Khan Afridi developed an international career in malariology and helped shape global health in the early years of the World Health Organisation.