The two candidates are Shambhu Prasad Acharya, a WHO veteran from Nepal, and Saima Wazed, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina’s daughter, known for her work in autism
New Delhi: The upcoming election for the top World Health Organisation (WHO) position in South Asia has generated a high-decibel campaign featuring a public health expert from Nepal and the Bangladesh premier’s daughter, though India has publicly maintained silence on the matter because of its strong ties with both countries.
The two candidates are Shambhu Prasad Acharya, a veteran of the WHO system who is currently a director in the office of Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus, and Saima Wazed, the daughter of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who is best known for her work in autism.
With a little for than a fortnight to go for the election for the post of regional director of WHO South-East Asia Region, people familiar with the matter said Wazed is widely tipped to win with the backing of a majority of the 11 participating countries, including India.
The election will be decided by a secret ballot to be held at a closed-door session in New Delhi during October 30-November 2. The WHO office for South Asia is one of six regional units and the member countries are Bangladesh, Bhutan, North Korea, India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.
“The expertise of candidates in public health issues is important, but the reality is that a lot of such elections to multilateral bodies under the UN and WHO are decided partly on geopolitical considerations,” a diplomat from one of the participating countries said on condition of anonymity.
The current regional director is India’s Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the first woman to hold the post. She is in her second five-year term following an unanimous reelection in 2018. Lobbying for such elections often begins years in advance, with a country seeking support for its candidate in return for backing other nations in voting at some other UN or WHO agency. An early indication of India’s support for the Bangladeshi candidate emerged in a joint statement issued after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka in March 2021.
“Bangladesh side thanked the Government of India for confirming support in favour of Bangladesh’s candidate to the post of Director, South East Asian Regional Office of the WHO in 2023,” the statement said.
Since then, Bangladesh has secured the support of a majority of the 11 participating countries, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Wazed accompanied the Bangladeshi premier when she travelled to India for the G20 Summit last month.
The high-pitched campaign for Nepal’s candidate has focused on Wazed’s lack of qualification in medicine or a PhD, but the people pointed out that this isn’t an essential requirement under the WHO’s provisions for such elections. The campaign has also called for reforms of the closed-door process for such elections.
“No one is doubting Prasad’s credentials as he has served in various capacities with the WHO in Geneva since 1999, though some of the personal attacks on the other candidate have come as a surprise,” a second person said.
The people said Bangladesh’s campaign has focused on the need to inject “new blood” in the functioning of WHO’s regional office and pointed to Wazed’s work in updating public health-related rules in Bangladesh and her role in enacting the country’s Mental Health Act of 2018 and National Mental Health Strategic Plan of 2020-25. She was also a member of the WHO expert panel on mental health during 2014-22.
Source: Hindustan Times
