Sri Lanka in WHO Executive Committee
 

by Bharatha Malawaraarachchi

Sri Lanka has gained entry to the Executive Committee of the World Health Organisation (WHO) at the 23rd Health Ministers' meeting of WHO's South-East Asian region, which concluded yesterday in Colombo.

Accordingly, Sri Lanka will serve in the 33-member WHO Executive Committee for a period of three years from 2006 to 2009.

"This is a significant achievement for Sri Lanka and it will be a good opportunity for us," Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told a press briefing yesterday, at the end of the Ministers' meeting.

Health Ministers from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor Leste participated at this meeting.

"The meeting achieved a remarkable success and took up a range of burning issues related to the health sector in member countries," added Minister de Silva.

He said the meeting focused on health actions in emergency including response to earthquake and tsunami, strengthening public health infrastructure with emphasis on education and practice. It also discussed the access to medicines and vaccines and implications of intellectual property protection and trade agreements.

Earlier, Minister de Silva was elected Chairman of the 23rd Meeting of the Ministers of Health and 58th session of the WHO's Region Committee for South-East Asia.