The 72nd session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for South-East Asia has begun.

Health Ministers and Senior officials from all 11 Member States of the South Asian region are attending this meeting, taking place from 2nd to 6th September in India.

The Health Ministry statedthat a high-level delegation from Maldives led by Minister of Health Abdulla Ameen, accompanied by Ambassador of Maldives to India Aishath Mohamed Didi and high-level officials from Ministry of Health and Maldivian Embassy in New Delhi is attending this meeting .

The meeting will be attended by the Director General of WHO, Regional Director for South-East Asia and other high-level officials from the WHO Headquarters and the Regional Office. In addition, officials from partner organizations and Civil Society will also be attending this meeting.

The topic for this year’s Ministerial roundtable meeting is on “Emergency Preparedness”. The discussions will include Health Emergencies in the region and preparing for these emergencies. Following these deliberations, the Health Ministers will sign “Delhi Declaration on Emergency Preparedness in the South-East Asia Region” to overcome the challenges and work further on Emergency Preparedness.

Additionally, important areas such as Regional Action Plans on Management of latent TB, Health, Environment and Climate Change, Cervical Cancer Elimination and health-related SDGs will also be discussed at the meeting. Other discussions include governance matters related to progress of work of the South-East Asia Regional Office new building, Management performance and transformation in the South-East Asia Region, WHO budget reports and implementation of work plans.

On the sidelines of the Regional Committee Meeting, Maldivian delegation will be meeting with high level officials from other countries to discuss bilateral collaborations on strengthening the health workforce and other collaborative areas.