NEW DELHI: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s daughter Dr Saima Wazed was nominated as the World Health Organisation’s regional director for South-East Asia on Wednesday. Dr Wazed won against Nepal’s candidate Dr Shambhu Acharya, who has been working in the WHO director-general’s office since 2013.
Dr Wazed will assume office in February, while her nomination will be submitted to the WHO executive board in a meeting in January. A trained psychologist, Dr Wazed has been working extensively in the field of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
She has been the chairperson of Bangladesh’s National Advisory Committee on Neurodevelopmental Disorders since 2012. Her predecessor Dr Poonam Khetrapal was the first woman to hold this position and was in office for 10 years, which includes two terms.