Bangladesh's Candidate Saima Wazed Has won the election for the South-East Asia Regional Directorship of the World Health Organization (WHO), defeating Nepal's candidate Dr. Sambhu Acharya. Nepal's candidate has suffered defeat in this election.

Neali candidate Shambhu Prasad Acharya was defeated by Saima Wazed, who is the daughter of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

“Negative campaigning about the other candidate by the Nepali civil society activists focused on media attention was partly responsible for the loss of the otherwise qualified Nepali candidate who had himself conducted a dignified campaign for the WHO position,” tweets former foreign secretary Madhu Raman Acharya.

There are 11 member countries participating in WHO Sero, including Nepal. Of these countries, Nepal received only two votes, while Bangladesh received eight. The member countries consist of Nepal, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, North Korea, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar.

The current regional director of the organization is Dr. India, not Poonam Kshetrapal Singh.