PPD officials win top WHO assembly posts

Partners in Population and Development (PPD) are 'proud' that its chairman and vice-chairman have been elected president and vice-president of the current World Health Assembly in Geneva.

“We are very proud of our chair and vice chair, who have been elected because of their technical expertise and global leadership roles in the health sector,” the PPD said in a statement on Wednesday.

Headquartered in Dhaka, the inter-governmental alliance collaborates with 26 member states in family planning, reproductive health, population and development.

It promotes South-South cooperation with member states representing over half the world’s population. It is also a permanent observer to the UN.

India’s health minister Jagat Prakash Nada, who is a vice-chair of the PPD board, has been elected president of the WHO’s annual gathering.

Chinese health and family planning minister, Li Bin, who chairs the board, has been elected vice-president of the 68th assembly that began on May 18.

The PPD headquarters said in a statement: “We wish that through their leadership role, the South-South Cooperation would be globally recognised and supported by North as the alternative mechanism and financial model in the SDG for addressing the population and health issues in the developing world.”

More than 3,000 delegates from 194 WHO member states have joined the assembly, which ends on May 26.