The Silicon Review ^Asia

Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh has again been appointed as the Regional Director for WHO South-East Asia for a term of five years. Unanimously endorsed by the WHO Executive Board, Dr. Khetrapal Singh was earlier nominated by eleven member countries of the region.

After being congratulated by Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, Dr. Khetrapal Singh said, “It is a privilege to once again be appointed as Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia Region. The confidence you have reposed in me is humbling.” Speaking of her vision for the second term, she says that a new approach can be embraced to sustain the gains, accelerate the progress to finish the unfinished agenda and innovation so that a huge population across the region can expect a positive impact on their health and well-being.

In her first term, she developed eight flagship priority programmes that focused on results and accountability and are in terms with the WHO’s global goals and health targets set for Sustainable Development Goal 3. Dr. Khetrapal Singh stresses on the need to innovate and believes that adding innovation will help to tap into the existing opportunities and meeting challenges will be easier by applying research findings and new policies.

The Regional Director says that eradicating diseases like TB will be tough unless rapid diagnostics are developed that are designed to target large populations in a short time. She also aims to create and implement policies that don’t exclude any needs and demands of any community. “I have confidence that together we will sustain our gains, accelerate progress and harness the full power of innovation to advance health and well-being across the WHO South-East Asia Region”, she added.