Dr. Poonam Singh reappointed as WHO Southeast Asia Regional Director

Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh has been appointed as Regional Director for the World Health Organisation (WHO) Southeast Asia, for a second five-year term.

The WHO Executive Board on January 26 unanimously endorsed Dr. Singh, who was earlier also unanimously nominated by 11 member countries of the region, for another five years.

Congratulating her, WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “The first woman to become Regional Director of the WHO Southeast 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.”

In her acceptance speech, Dr. Singh said: “It is a privilege to once again be appointed as Regional Director of the WHO Southeast Asia Region. The confidence you have reposed in me is humbling.”

Outlining her vision for the second term that begins on February 1, 2019, Dr. Singh said sustaining the gains, accelerating progress to finish the unfinished agenda and innovating, would be the approach to ensure health and well-being of the 1.8 billion people across the region.

Detailing her vision for her next term in her acceptance speech at the Executive Board, Dr. Singh said: “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.”

“We must accelerate sustainable progress,” she said. Her eight regional flagship priority programmes are aligned to WHO’S global goals and health targets for Sustainable Development Goal 3.