WHO Sri Lanka
The Member States of WHO South-East Asia Region adopted Colombo Declaration on ‘Healthy ageing through strengthened primary health care’
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About WHO South-East Asia

One of the six WHO Regions, WHO South-East Asia is home to a quarter of the world’s population.  

Committed to building a better, healthier future for the nearly two billion people in the Region, WHO is working with the 10 Member States to address persisting and emerging epidemiological and demographic challenges.

Officer-in-Charge

WHO South-East Asia Regional Director Saima Wazed is currently on leave.

During this period, Dr Catharina Boehme is serving as Officer-in-Charge.

Regional Director

Saima Wazed

WHO
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Reassignment of Indonesia

Indonesia reassigned to WHO Western Pacific Region

On 23 May 2025, at the Seventy-eighth session of the World Health Assembly Member States approved the request from the Government of Indonesia for the country’s reassignment from the South-East Asia Region to the Western Pacific Region.



Global Leprosy Programme

The Global Leprosy Programme (GLP) of the World Health Organization is housed in the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia (and not in the Organization’s headquarters in Geneva). It is the Organization’s designated programme for addressing leprosy worldwide. Being classified as one of the 20 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), the unit works in close collaboration with the Department of Control of NTDs in HQ, designated focal points in all regions, national leprosy programmes and partners.

Featured activities

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Featured publications

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SEAHEARTS: Accelerating prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases in the South-East Asia Region

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the WHO South-East (SE) Asia Region. Global Health Estimates of 2021 indicated...

WHO South-East Asia Regional Health Emergency Workforce Strategy 2025–2030

The World Health organization (WHO) South-East Asia Regional Health Emergency Workforce (HEW) Strategy 2025–2030 is a regional response to the urgent...

Regional Roadmap to accelerate actions on antimicrobial resistance in the human health sector in the South-East Asia Region (2025–2030)

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a growing threat to public health, undermining treatment of infectious diseases and progress in modern medicine. Despite...

Ending tuberculosis in the WHO South-East Asia Region: reflections and the road ahead in the milestone year of 2025

Tuberculosis continues to be a major public health and development challenge in the WHO South-East (SE) Asia Region, which accounted for more than 45%...