After the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA) meet that took place on Tuesday via video conferencing, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan is set to take charge as the chairman of the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board on May 22.
The executive board which is composed of 34 technically qualified members elected for three-year terms, will hold a meeting on May 22.
India was among 10 nations that were elected by the 73rd World Health Assembly to the Executive Board of the WHO for a period of three years. The other new members include Botswana, Colombia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Oman, Republic of Korea, Russia, and the United Kingdom.
The development comes after WHO’s South-East Asia group had unanimously decided last year that New Delhi would be elected to the Executive Board for a span of three years beginning Friday, with its nominee being appointed as the Chairman for the first year.
As the Chairman of the 34-member Executive Board of the WHO, Dr Vardhan will be mandated to ensure the implementation of the decisions taken by the World Health Assembly, which is the decision making body of the WHO. He will also be closely working with the incumbent director-general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
After the end of his one year tenure as WHA chairman, Dr Vardhan will continue to remain a member of the Assembly for two more years and will also have a say in shortlisting the next WHO director-general.
