Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who is at the forefront of India’s battle against coronavirus (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.
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 chairman’s post is held by rotation for one year among regional groups and it was decided last year that India’s nominee would be the Executive Board chairman for the first year starting Friday.