32nd meeting of health ministers of SE Asia to begin Sept 9

Health Ministers from 11 countries of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) South-East Asia Region will meet in Dhaka from 9 to 12 September to discuss the key health issues facing the Region that encompasses Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor- Leste.The Health Ministers’ Meeting is a forum for exchanging views and discussing health issues important to the Region, a WHO press release said here on Monday.
The meeting fosters cooperation among member states and helps to forge bilateral and multi country cooperation in the field of health.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Mohammed Nasim will host the meeting to be held at Hotel Sonargaon. The health ministers will discuss ways to address vector borne diseases and are expected to adopt the “Dhaka Declaration” on this issue.
The health ministers meeting will be followed by the 67th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia from 10-12 September. The Regional
Committee is a statutory body comprising the Member States of the Region, which convenes once a year to review progress and regional implications of the World Health Assembly resolutions.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate the meeting on 9 September, along with WHO Director General Dr Margaret Chan and WHO Regional Director Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh.
At the Health Ministers’ Meeting, Vector borne diseases will be the focus of discussion. Globally, a billion people are estimated to be infected from vector-borne diseases, and over a million die from them each year.