Nepal has nominated a dynamic leader in public health, Dr. Shambhu Prasad Acharya, as the candidate for the post of regional director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) South East Asia Region (SEAR). The government has intensified lobbying for Dr. Acharya to get him elected to the post. He has been working with the WHO for more than two decades and is the incumbent Director at its Headquarters in Geneva. He specialises in UN health policies, programmes and budget while also having good skills in monitoring, negotiations and cooperation. He has served in supervisory roles at the WHO for more than two and a half decades and led the analysis of the health implications of the economic crisis that devastated the East Asian economies and played an instrumental role in establishing the Asia-Pacific Health Economics Network on behalf of the WHO-SEAR Office. Dr. Acharya talked about the responsibilities of the post, his candidacy, preparations, and election agenda with Modnath Dhakal of The Rising Nepal. Excerpts:
What is the rationale behind Nepal's candidacy
for the regional director of the WHO South East Asia Region (SEAR)?
Nepal has been a member of the WHO since the
beginning and has kept health as high-level agenda in its plans and programmes.
It has learned a lot about how health care, especially the primary one, could
be improved. Meanwhile, Nepal faced lots of health challenges including
pandemics and worked quite efficiently to combat them. The country has a huge
pool of talent, and they need to be provided with good opportunities. Being at
the leadership of the regional agency of the global health body, Nepal can
contribute both to the regional as well as the national front.
Could you tell our readers about the nature and
the responsibilities of the post?
This is a position called Regional Director,
but institutionally at the WHO, it is called Chief Technical and Administrative,
and it is an assistant secretary general level post of the United Nations. It
oversees the WHO's health programmes in the regional office and eleven member
countries. The agency coordinates and monitors the public health programmes in
the region. It directly reports to the WHO regional committee and works under
its guidance. It develops the vision and strategies for the region and ensures
that there is effective monitoring of and accountability in the programmes and
system. It provides necessary support to the member states and guides them in
devising better strategies and policies for health sector expansion and
development, and ensures that the programmes and plans are implemented
according to the set rules and regulations. It also helps to bring in good
practices in the region and forge regional collaborations on various aspects of
health.
How does it help in Nepal's health policies and
international health diplomacy?
Both concepts are of high importance. The WHO
provides support in the formulation, implementation and monitoring of health
policies and plans of every member country depending on the needs and demands.
Providing policy support and technical advice are the core functions of the
WHO. During the COVID-19 pandemic, health issues and challenges were not
confined to a single country, and it showed us a need for international health
diplomacy to control the spread of the disease and exchange ideas and supports.
If such an event occurs again, how could this region tackle it collectively by
working together and showing solidarity? With more than two and a half decades of
experience at the WHO, I believe that I have the skills and competencies to
manage regional issues as well as play a pivotal role in forging collaborations
among the member nations during normal as well as challenging times.
You have a good knowledge and experience of
managing large projects on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and related
policies. Would it be helpful in your election drive?
I strongly believe that it should help. My
width of experience expands in management, science, public health, academia,
leadership, advisor, and high-level panels and forums. I had also served as a
board member of the UN System Staff College. It gives me a wide range of
experiences to cover a wide range of health areas, not only in the areas of
public health per se but also in leadership, management, diplomacy and
political considerations are the sectors where I can deliver well.
What are the preparations from the government,
especially the Nepali missions in the south and east Asian nations and your
side for the election?
The candidacy is nominated by the government.
This is the position where public health leaders are elected so the governments
take proactive roles in terms of advocacy and lobbying as well as negotiations
with the other member countries.
Since I worked at the WHO Headquarters with the
Director General, I know all the health ministers in this region, I am in
regular contact with the ministers as well as high officials of the health
ministers. Recently, I accompanied our Health Minister, Mohan Bahadur Basnet,
to Gujrat, India, where G20 Health Ministers Meeting and Global Traditional
Medicine Summit were happening. He introduced me to key personalities and we
had discussions with them as well. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’
and Foreign Minister NP Saud have also been taking initiations to lobby for
Nepal's candidate. The Health Minister has written letters to his counterparts
in the countries in the region. Further contacts and dialogues will be
organised soon. Meanwhile, I am also attending the UN General Assembly as a
part of the government delegation where we can discuss the candidacy on the
sidelines meetings with the leaders of the concerned countries. UNGA is
suitable for high-level political advocacy.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh, which is also a Least
Developed Country (LDC) and graduating along with Nepal in 2026, announced its
candidacy for the same post. Shouldn't the two countries have come up with a
single candidate since they are collaborating on multiple fronts in terms of
economic and other areas?
The WHO is a multilateral agency and there is a
trend of having multiple candidates for the post. Once, four countries had
fielded their separate candidates for this post. Having a single candidate is a
good idea but I don't think that's the right thing to do. I think each member
should field their best candidates and let the process work. There have always
been two or more candidates.
Could you share the schemes that you will implement if elected to the post of the Director of the WHO?
I have outlined my five priorities for the WHO
South-East Asia Region during my term. They are promoting health and well-being
approaches that impact population health, accelerating universal health
coverage with strong, inclusive primary health care to achieve health-related
sustainable development goals, preparing for and protecting from future
pandemics and emergencies, and innovating and digitising to accelerate health
equity and solidarity.
I have proposed to learn and share lessons on
meaningful community engagement, advocate and provide tools for results-driven
multi-sectorial responses, make climate change, planetary health and decarbonising
the health system a priority, and support member states to address the social,
economic and commercial determinants of health. Likewise, mobilising increased
investments for health, expanding, supporting and retaining a high-quality
health workforce in the region, scaling up services to address non-communicable
diseases and ensuring a high-quality continuum of care for all people will be
the areas of my work.
Likewise, enhancing the surveillance system,
establishing a regional rapid health response team, addressing antimicrobial
resistance, increasing health care quality, harnessing digitisation and
strengthening data generation as well as use are my promises. I would also like
to promote regional leadership in global decision-making and establish and
capitalise on a regional health fund.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 8 September 2023.
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