The Mayor Alliance for Healthy Cities, an alliance of mayors across Bangladesh formed aiming to build healthy cities and municipalities through strengthening environmental conservation and prevention of diseases and tobacco use, congratulated Saima Wazed Putul for being nominated as new regional director for South East Asia of World Health Organisation (WHO).
Chairman of Mayor Alliance for Healthy Cities and mayor of Rangpur City Corporation Mostafizar Rahman Mostafa and general secretary of the alliance and mayor of Dhamrai Municipality Golam Kabir in a joint statement congratulated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s daughter and autism expert Saima Wazed Putul for the achievement.
The statement was issued on Thursday signed by Coordinator of Mayor Alliance for Healthy Cities, Bangladesh Abu Naser Anik.
In the statement, the Mayor Alliance for Healthy Cities said that Saima Wazed’s nomination as WHO’s new regional director is a milestone achievement as she is the first Bangladeshi who is set to assume the position.
The Mayor Alliance for Healthy Cities, Bangladesh believes that Saima Wazed’s nomination as the WHO’s new regional director is a recognition of her passion and relentless work in public health.
Mayor Mostafizar Rahman Mostafa and Mayor Golam Kabir in the joint statement said that Saima Wazed Putul will play a vital role in implementing the announcement of her mother and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to make a tobacco-free Bangladesh by 2040.
“We expect that she (Saima Wazed Putul) will play a leading role in protecting public health in this region, which she has done in the past. In particular, she will play a vital role in implementing the announcement of the Prime Minister to make Bangladesh tobacco-free by 2040,” they said in the statement.
“She (Saima Wazed Putul) will lead in the South East Asia region, including Bangladesh, in the implementation of SDG-3 goal by building healthy cities. We wish her success. And at the same time, we express our firm conviction to cooperate with her in this work,” reads the statement.
Saima Wazed Putul has won the election of the WHO’s regional director for Southeast Asia which is composed of eleven countries.
Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and Timor-Leste took part in the voting in New Delhi on Wednesday (November 1), the third day of the 76th session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia.
Saima Wazed Putul had secured eight votes, while the other candidate Dr Shambhu Prasad Acharya nominated by Nepal received two votes.
Saima Wazed will be the first Bangladeshi to hold the post created in 1948 as part of WHO’s regional divisions.
