Murthy ‘perfect’ for WHO
THE US president, Joe Biden, intends to nominate surgeongeneral Vivek Murthy (right) to be America’s representative on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) executive board, a White House official said last Tuesday (4).
Murthy has served as the top US doctor under Biden and former president Barack Obama. He will continue in that role while taking on the WHO position, if he is confirmed by the US Senate.
“With his experience and expertise, the president is confident that Dr Murthy will build on his commitment to an era of relentless diplomacy by representing our nation on the world stage,” the official said.
“Rejoining the WHO requires an experienced and seasoned physician and public health expert,” they added. “Dr Murthy is the perfect person for that.”
After taking office in January 2021, Biden said the US would re-engage with the WHO after his predecessor, former president Donald Trump, said in 2020 his country would withdraw from the organisation because of its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The WHO’s executive board has 34 members who serve three-year terms. Its purpose, according to its website, is to prepare an agenda for and implement policies by the World Health Assembly, made up of the WHO member states. The US has not had a Senate-confirmed representative on the board since 2020.
Murthy was born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, to immigrants from Karnataka, India. In 1978, the family moved to Newfoundland, where his father worked as a district medical officer. When he was three, the family relocated to Miami.