WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia – Report of the Seventy-fifth Session, Paro, Bhutan,

Overview

The WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia is the World Health Organization’s governing body in the South-East Asia Region. It has representatives from all Member States. The Regional Committee meets in September to review progress in health development in the Region, formulate resolutions on health issues for Member States, and review past resolutions. It also considers the regional implications of World Health Assembly resolutions, among others.

This report summarizes the discussions of the Seventy-fifth Session of the Regional Committee for South-East Asia held in Paro, Bhutan, on 5–9 September 2022. Representatives from 10 of the Region’s 11 Member States attended the Session.

The Committee discussed relevant public health issues such as monitoring progress for the control of noncommunicable diseases including oral health and integrated eye care; strengthening health emergency preparedness and response, building on the lessons learnt from COVID-19; monitoring regionwide progress on UHC and the health-related SDGs; the road to achieving the 2023 UN High-Level Meeting targets towards ending TB; accelerating the elimination of cervical cancer; and achieving UHC, SDGs and health security through comprehensive PHC. The Committee also reviewed reports on progress in the implementation of many of its past resolutions.

The Ministerial Roundtable featured a discussion by the honourable health ministers on ‘Addressing mental health through primary care and community engagement’. The Committee adopted the Paro Declaration on universal access to people-centred mental health care and services.