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Apr 23, 2022

WHO praises Nepal’s vaccination campaign against COVID-19

FA News Desk
Two lady officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Health and Population bidding farewell to WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanoma Gabrias at Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu on Saturday. Photo: MOFA
Two lady officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Health and Population bidding farewell to WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanoma Gabrias at Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu on Saturday. Photo: MOFA

Nepal to support Dr. Tedros for next term

After concluding his three-day mission in Nepal the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus along with his team members left Nepal Saturday for Geneva, Switzerland.

The WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and his team members arrived in Kathmandu Thursday afternoon from India.

WHO chief and his team members were welcomed at the Tribhuvan International airport when they arrived Kathmandu on Thursday

The WHO chief was bid farewell by the senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Population at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.

During his stay in Nepal the WHO chief along with his team members including Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Regional Office Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh paid a courtesy call on President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Chairman of the National Assembly Ganesh Prasad Timilsina.

The team also met with Foreign Minister Dr. Narayan Khadka, Health and Population Minister Birodh Khatiwada and other Nepal government’s high level officials.

During the meeting between Minister Khatiwada and WHO delegations, the Health minister thanked the WHO chief for providing various assistance to the Government of Nepal in addressing the health needs of the Nepali people.

Sharing Nepal’s plan to formulate an integrated national health financing strategy to increase the equal access of all to health services, Minister Khatiwada urged WHO for various cooperation including in the areas of quality control and access to medicines, advanced laboratories, regulatory capacity, human resource development, technology transfer and medical research and diagnosis.

Minister Khatiwada also expressed Nepal’s commitment to support and assist the nomination of Director General Tedros for a second term.

The World Health Assembly to be held next month is set to vote on electing a new head or continuing with the incumbent.

WHO chief also held talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Narayan Khadka. During the meeting, as per the press statement of MoFA, the Foreign Minister appreciated the leadership of WHO during the COVID pandemic and expressed thanks to the Director-General for his unfailing support to Nepal during the COVID crisis, including through vaccine support.

“The Foreign Minister also thanked the Director-General for decades of cooperation from WHO to Nepal in the prevention and control of diseases and provision of vaccines and technical assistance in critical areas of public health,” the release stated.

Meanwhile, WHO chief has appreciated Nepal government’s national vaccination campaign against COVID-19 and the progress the country has made on various health indicators, including child health and maternal mortality over a short span of time.

He also expressed his happiness over his visit to Nepal and committed that WHO and Nepal will straighten the activities and cooperation in the field of health issues.

The WHO team inspected the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) in Teku, Kathmandu. He also observed the vaccination campaign launched against typhoid at Patan Secondary School in Lalitpur and the public hospitals in Kathmandu.