South-East Asia health ministers meet Sept 5-9

Health ministers of the 11 member nations of WHO South-East Asia Region are meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 5 to 9 this month to set the health priorities for the region, home to nearly a quarter of the world's population.

Non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, which kill nearly 8.5 million people every year and are the leading cause of deaths in the region, will be a key agenda at the 69th WHO Regional Committee meeting, said a WHO press release. 

Tackling anti-microbial resistance (AMR) will be deliberated at the meeting, the release said.

In the run-up to the meeting, the WHO office in Dhaka and the Health Economics Unit of the health ministry jointly held a day-long consultation seminar on Sustainable Development Goals and the role of Universal Health Coverage at Radisson hotel Wednesday.

The seminar discussed, among other things, how Universal Health Coverage is critical for achieving SDGs by member nations.

Speaking at the seminar, Health Minister Mohammed Nasim highlighted Bangladesh's many successes, including the drastic decline in maternal and child mortality rate.

The WHO Regional Committee meets annually. The 11 member states and Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.