Campaigning Becomes Intense When A Top WHO Position In South Asia Is Up For Election
New Delhi: A public health expert from Nepal and the daughter of the Bangladeshi premier are prominent candidates in the upcoming election for the top World Health Organization (WHO) post in South Asia. Despite India’s close ties to both countries, the country has publicly refrained from commenting on the issue.
The two contenders are Saima Wazed, the daughter of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is well-known for her work on autism, and Shambhu Prasad Acharya, a veteran of the WHO system who is presently a director in the office of Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus.
The election for the position of regional director of the WHO South-East Asia Region is scheduled to take place in less than two weeks, and those with knowledge of the situation say that Wazed is the clear favorite to win, supported by most of the 11 participating nations, including India.
Election results will be determined by secret ballot, which will be conducted in a closed-door meeting in New Delhi from October 30 to November 2. One of the six regional offices of the World Health Organization, the South Asian office is comprised of the following nations: Bangladesh, Bhutan, North Korea, India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Timor-Leste.
Under condition of anonymity, a diplomat from one of the participating nations stated, “The public health expertise of candidates 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.”
Poonam Khetrapal Singh, an Indian, is the current regional director and the first woman to occupy the position. She was unanimously re-elected in 2018 to a second five-year term.
Years in advance, a nation will typically begin lobbying for their nominee in exchange for other countries’ support when voting at another UN or WHO institution. Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka in March 2021, a joint statement was released indicating India’s early endorsement of the Bangladeshi nominee.
The statement read, “The government of India was thanked by the Bangladeshi side for confirming support for Bangladesh’s candidate for the position of Director, South East Asian Regional Office of the WHO in 2023.”
Since then, most of the 11 participating nations have given Bangladesh their backing, according to two persons with knowledge of the situation. Wazed went to India with the premier of Bangladesh when she went there for the G20 Summit last month.
Wazed’s absence of a PhD or medical degree has been the focus of Nepal’s candidate’s vociferous campaign, but supporters have argued that these qualifications aren’t necessary for these kinds of elections, according to WHO guidelines. Reforms to the closed-door procedure used for these elections have also been demanded by the campaign.
No one questions Prasad’s qualifications because he has worked for the WHO in Geneva since 1999 in a variety of jobs, but some of the personal jabs at the opposing candidate have surprised them, according to a second source.
People cited Wazed’s work updating public health-related laws in Bangladesh and her role in the country’s Mental Health Act of 2018 and National Mental Health Strategic Plan of 2020–25 as examples of how Bangladesh’s campaign has focused on the need to inject “new blood” into the operation of WHO’s regional office. Additionally, she participated in the WHO expert council on mental health from 2014 to 22.
