KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 28
Health ministers and senior officials from member countries are meeting here next week to deliberate on priority health issues and nominate the next World Health Organisation Regional Director for South- East Asia.
The 76th session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia, the annual governing body meeting of the WHO at the regional level, will be held from October 30 to November 2. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and WHO South- East Asia Regional Director Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh will be present in the meeting.
According to a press release issued by the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia today, accelerating prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases, ending neglected tropical diseases and regional health security are among the key issues to be discussed in the meeting.
A ministerial roundtable will be held on strengthening primary health care as a key element towards achieving universal health coverage.
On Wednesday, the Regional Committee will vote to nominate the next WHO Regional Director for South- East Asia. There are two candidates in the fray – Bangladesh's nominee Saima Wazed and Nepal's nominee Shambhu Prasad Acharya.
The nomination will be submitted to the WHO Executive Board which will take place from January 22 to 27 in 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The newly appointed regional director will assume office on 1 February 2024 for a five-year term.
At the Regional Committee, the countries will be felicitated for public health achievements, many of which are triggered by focused approach towards regional flagship priorities.
Home to more than 2 billion people, the region has made accelerated progress around the regional flagship programmes.
Since 2014, the region has been playing a vital role for elimination of polio and maternal and neonatal tetanus. Four countries, including Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste, have eliminated measles and rubella, one of the eight flagship priorities.
Four countries, including Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Bangladesh, have eliminated lymphatic filariasis.
These countries have accorded high priority to elimination of neglected tropical diseases. Nepal and Myanmar eliminated trachoma while India was verified as a 'yaws-free' country.
Sri Lanka and Maldives eliminated malaria. Thailand, Maldives and Sri Lanka eliminated mother-to-child transmission of syphilis and HIV. Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Thailand achieved hepatitis B control.
Focusing on accelerating reduction of maternal, neonatal and under-five mortality, the region recorded 68.5 per cent reduction in maternal mortality between 2000 and 2020, and 45 per cent reduction in under-five mortality and 39 per cent reduction in neonatal mortality during the period.
Five countries, including DPR Korea, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand, have achieved 2030 SDG targets of reducing under-five mortality and neonatal mortality.
Prone to health emergencies, the region had been investing in strengthening preparedness and response capacities since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that hit multiple countries in the region and killed over 200,000 people. Strengthening health emergencies capacities has also been a regional flagship since 2014. Various countries have been enhancing the core capacities of International Health Regulation, 2005. The lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic are now guiding Regional Strategy Roadmap on Health Security and Health System Resilience for Emergencies (2023-2027). The region is accelerating control of cardiovascular diseases with a target to place 100 million people with hypertension and/or diabetes on protocol-based management by 2025.
A version of this article appears in the print on October 29, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.