Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan Set To Be Elected Chairman Of WHO’s Executive Board On 22 May

In a major development, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan is set to be elected as the next Chairman of the Executive Board of the World Health Organisation (WHO), reports Hindustan Times.

In a procedural formality, Dr Vardhan is expected to be elected as the Chairman at WHO's Executive Board's meeting on 22 May.

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.

An acclaimed ENT surgeon, Dr Vardhan is presently leading the national effort against COVID-19 pandemic. He will be replacing Dr H Nakatani who is the advisor for international affairs to Japan's Minister of Health.

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.