Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan set to be WHO Executive Board chairman

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who is at the forefront of India’s battle against COVID-19, is set to take charge as the chairman of the WHO Executive Board on May 22, officials said on Tuesday. Vardhan would succeed Dr Hiroki Nakatani of Japan, currently the Chairman of the 34-member WHO Executive Board.

The proposal to appoint India’s nominee to the executive board was signed by the 194-nation World Health Assembly on Tuesday, officials said on condition of anonymity. Vardhan would be elected at the Executive Board meeting of the World Health Organisation on May 22, the officials said. His taking over the post seems to be a formality after the decision that he will be India’s nominee as the WHO’s South-East Asia group had unanimously decided last year that India would be elected to the executive board for a three-year-term beginning May.

Vardhan would be elected at the Executive Board meeting of the World Health Organisation on May 22, the officials said. The Executive Board is composed of 34 individuals technically qualified in the field of health, each one designated by a member state elected to do so by the World Health Assembly.

Member States are elected for three-year terms.

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