The choice of candidate for this critical post will be based on voting behind closed doors by the organization’s ten member countries, prominent among these being India, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh. A public health veteran, Dr Acharya holds a PhD in public health and has over three decades of experience working with the WHO in various capacities around the world. Whatever decision member countries finally take will have major implications for health policies across the WHO South-East Asia Region, home to a quarter of the world’s population. This initiative included recommendations for enhancing the efficiency of WHO’s regional offices and refining the election process for selecting RegionalDirectors. The election of the new Regional Director for WHO SEARO will reveal what its member governments really think their citizens deserve.

Source: News 24 October 30, 2023 06:44 UTC