Bangladesh’s Saima Wazed, daughter of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, beat Nepal’s Shambhu Prasad Acharya to be nominated as the next World Health Organization Regional Director for South-East Asia. Wazed received eight votes while Nepal’s Acharya, a top WHO official, secured only two votes.
Wazed was nominated through a secret ballot of 10 votes, in which she received eight votes in her favour. The election was held at the 76th session of the Regional Committee for SEARO in New Delhi. The SEARO is one of the six regions of WHO with its headquarters in New Delhi.
Wazed, who is presently the chairperson of Bangladesh’s National Advisory Committee on Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, will take office on February 1, 2024, for a five-year term and will be eligible for reappointment once.
After winning the election, Saima Wazed said she looked forward to “building a healthier South-East Asia”.
Thank you to @WHOSEARO Member States for choosing me to be their next Regional Director!
I would like to pay tribute to our outgoing RD, Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh, for her decade of service to the public health of our region.
A special tribute as well for my fellow nominee in…
— Saima Wazed (@drSaimaWazed) November 1, 2023
“Thank you to @WHOSEARO Member States for choosing me to be their next Regional Director! I would like to pay tribute to our outgoing RD, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, for her decade of service to the public health of our region. A special tribute as well for my fellow nominee in this race, Dr Acharya. In his long and distinguished career, he has been an invaluable asset to WHO – and I hope our region will continue to benefit from his knowledge and experience,” Wazed posted on X, formerly Twitter.
The names of the candidates were sent by WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to member states on August 18. Apart from Bangladesh and Nepal, India, Bhutan, North Korea, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Timor-Leste participated in the vote to elect the next regional director.
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The election, which had taken a political colour due to Wazed being the daughter of the Bangladeshi PM, was an acid test for India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
Diplomatic sources had told ABP Live that Nepal was apprehensive of the fact that their candidate would not get favourable support from India due to the friendly relationship between PM Narendra Modi and Hasina. In fact, Nepal had put its diplomatic channels to work in a bid to ensure that India votes Acharya.
Taking to X after the voting, Acharya said he would continue to work for public health and extend all support.
🙏 to Member States for choosing leader who they want to lead WHO Southeast Asia Region. I congratulate @drSaimaWazed for her election as Regional Director. As a public health leader I would continue to work for public health and extend hands to support in anyway I can.
— Shambhu Acharya (@acharyas1) November 1, 2023
Apart from India, the diplomatic sources had told ABP Live, the United States also favoured Wazed, with Washington underlining her contribution in overhauling public health related regulations in Bangladesh.
As the next WHO regional director of South-East Asia, Wazed will be responsible for steering public health responses in the region, which is home to a quarter of the global population and has 30 per cent of the global disease burden.
