WHO reappoints Poonam Singh as Regional Director for South-East Asia

Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh was appointed as the Regional Director for World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia, for a second five-year term that begins on February 1, 2019.

The WHO Executive Board approved the appointment of Dr Khetrapal Singh on January 26. She was earlier unanimously nominated by 11 member countries of WHO South-East Asia.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director General of WHO, hailed Khetrapal Singh as the first woman to become Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia Region.

"...you have provided dynamic leadership in a region that accounts for a quarter of the world’s population but a disproportionate burden of diseases. Under your leadership, the region has made remarkable progress,” he said as he congratulated Khetrapal Singh.

Outlining her vision for the second term, Khetrapal Singh stated that she wished to sustain the gain and accelerate progress to finish the unfinished agenda and innovate, in order to ensure the health and well being of the 1.8 billion people across the South-East Asian region.

“We must sustain the gains we made. It means ensuring we hold fast to our progress in diseases elimination, which history shows can return with a vengeance if attention falters, and ensuring that there is no room for complacency”, she said in her acceptance speech.

Dr Khetrapal Singh had focused on building an increasingly responsive and accountable WHO in the South Asian region in her first term.

Furthermore, she promoted universal health care and building robust health care systems by strengthening emergency risk. She also identified eight flagship priority programmes, focusing on results and accountability.

The WHO South-East Asia was certified polio-free in 2014 and became the second WHO Region to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus in 2015. Four countries eliminated measles and six controlled rubella, while maternal and under-five deaths reduced significantly, according to WHO.

During Khetrapal Singh's tenure, Maldives and Sri Lanka were certified malaria free. Maldives and Sri Lanka, along with Thailand, also eliminated lymphatic filariasis while the latter became the first in Asia-Pacific to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. Additionally, India was declared yaws-free and Nepal trachoma-free.