The interim government led by Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus has sent a letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure direct Communication with the organization, bypassing its Regional Director Saima Wazed, daughter of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus’s Press wing made this statement at a briefing on Wednesday evening at the capital.
“WHO Regional Director Saima Wazed Putul is dysfunctional for us right now. She has been implicated in several criminal cases and financial crimes, so we have informed WHO to take urgent action so that we can communicate with the organization directly,” told Apurba Jahangir, deputy press secretary of the chief adviser.
In response to a question, Apurba said, as Saima is a family member of the ousted fascist government so her role in supporting Bangladesh raised to queries and we want direct communication with WHO, not through its regional director.
Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to the chief adviser, also supplemented the briefing and said: “She has been implicated in several criminal charges, and BFIU has frozen her bank and is investigating his account, so there is no way for us to work with her now.
“We want to work directly with the WHO and urged them to inform about their action,” added Shafiqul.
After the fall of Sheikh Hasina's regime in Bangladesh, most of the influential government officials and family members of Sheikh Hasina faced several cases, and many of their bank accounts were frozen, including Saima Wazed.
On November 2023, Saima Wazed, the daughter of Bangladesh's ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was the candidate of Bangladesh, has been nominated, through an election, as the Regional Director (RD) of the South East Asia Regional Organization (SEARO) of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the term 2024-2028.
SEARO is one of the six regions of WHO, with its headquarters in New Delhi, India. It comprises 11 countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, DPR Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Timor Leste.
The SEARO is headed by the RD nominated by the members of the SEARO countries.
