Saima Wazed, daughter of PM Hasina, elected as WHO South-East Asia regional director
Saima Wazed, daughter of prime minister Sheikh Hasina, was elected as the next World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for South-East Asia.
Member States voted to nominate Saima Wazed during a closed meeting at the seventy-sixth session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia Region, the WHO said in a press release in its website.
The regional conference was held in New Delhi, capital of India, on Wednesday.
State minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam said in a Facebook post from New Delhi that Saima Wazed has been elected by 8-2 votes as the next WHO regional director for South-East Asia. She will carry out duties for next five years.
Saima Wazed also announced the news in social media.
“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,” she wrote in X, formerly Twitter.
The WHO said in its press release that the nomination will be submitted to the WHO Executive Board during its 154th session, taking place on 22−27 January 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The newly appointed regional director will take office on 1 February 2024, it added.
Previously, the government of Bangladesh nominated Saima Wazed for the WHO SEAR director. The WHO SEAR office is one of the agency’s six regional offices.
Saima Wazed completed her graduation on psychology in 1997 and post-graduation on clinical psychology in 2002 from Barry University, USA.
Meanwhile, foreign minister AK Abdul Momen told journalists at his office on Wednesday, “Today we have received good news. It is very good news. We had long been campaigning for this election. The daughter of prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Saima Wazed, has been elected as the WHO South-East Asia regional director for next five years.”
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus congratulated Saima Wazed saying he is committed and looks forward to working closely with her for a healthier, safer, fairer South-East Asia.
“My warm congratulations to @drSaimaWazed on her election as @WHOSEARO Regional Director. You have earned the confidence and trust of the Member States in the region. I am committed and look forward to working closely with you for a healthier, safer, fairer South-East Asia,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote in X, formerly Twitter.