About WHO in the South-East Asia Region

About WHO in the South-East Asia Region

WHO SEARO
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Health for Billions

 

One of the six WHO Regions, WHO South-East Asia is home to over a quarter of the world’s population.  

Committed to building a better, healthier future for the nearly two billion people in the Region, WHO is working with the 11 Member States to address persisting and emerging epidemiological and demographic challenges.

With the Region prone to natural disasters, disease outbreaks and health risks of climate change, one of WHO’s key priorities is to strengthen emergency risk management for sustainable development.

Promoting universal health coverage – health for all - and building robust health systems are key priorities.

The Region has eight flagship priority programmes, aligned to WHO’s global triple billion goals and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

 

 

Our focus

The Region has eight flagship priorities. Measles and rubella elimination; preventing non-communicable diseases; reducing maternal, under-five and neonatal mortality; universal health coverage with a focus on human resources for health and essential medicines; combating antimicrobial resistance; scaling up capacities for emergency risk management; eliminating neglected tropical diseases and accelerating efforts to end TB.

Where we work

The WHO South-East Asia Region has 11 Member States - Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste. WHO has country offices in all 11 Member States. The WHO South-East Asia Regional office in based in New Delhi India.

 

Our governance

The Regional Committee is the governing body meeting of WHO in the Region. Health Ministers and officials from Member States, partners and civil society participate in the Regional Committee that meets every year to formulate policies, review progress and deliberate on and endorse new initiatives. The Regional Committee resolutions and decisions guide WHO’s work in the Region.

Our history

At the First World Health Assembly in 1948, the establishement of the South-East Asia Regional Office was approved. In November 1948, the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia was established in New Delhi. The first Members were Afghanistan, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The Region is now composed of 11 Member Countries.