Dr Henk Bekedam named new WHO representative to India

KOLKATA: Senior World Health Organisation ( WHO) public health specialist Dr Henk Bekedam has taken charge as the UN body's representative to India.

Dr Bekedam, a Dutch national and medical doctor by training, has worked for 19 years with WHO as its representative in China and Egypt, Director of Health Sector Development in the WHO Western Pacific Region Office in Manila, and as team leader of the health sector reform project in Cambodia, a WHO release said today.

"It's a privilege to be in India. I am looking forward to building upon and further strengthening the excellent partnership that WHO has with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and other stakeholders," the release said quoting Bekedam.

"WHO India will continue to strive towards further strengthening health and equity in the country as India takes major steps towards Universal Health Coverage," he added.

Bekedam, who did his M.Sc in Economics from London School of Economics in 1996, was seconded to governments in Zambia and Malawi before joining WHO.

Incidentally, Bekedam's work has included supporting the Chinese government in successfully containing the SARS outbreak in 2003.

"A similar outcome was seen in Egypt, where we assisted the national government to define a new vision of universal health coverage in response to the constitution adopted in 2014, which gave more attention to health and education," he added.

Other areas of Bekedam's strong expertise include health system strengthening, Universal Health Coverage health sector reforms, food safety, AIDS, tuberculosis, tobacco control and chronic diseases, the WHO release stated.