After 21 Years: Pakistan set to host WHO regional moot

The conference of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region is an annual activity

ISLAMABAD: After 21 years, Pakistan will be hosting a regional conference of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and preparations in this regards are in full swing. The conference of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region, the highest decision-making forum on health for this part of the world, is an annual activity and held in a country of the region. Pakistan last hosted such a meeting in 1996 in Lahore and hopes to see health ministers from 22 regional countries arrive in Islamabad for the 2017 iteration from October 9 to 12. A task force with representatives from the interior and foreign ministries, the Islamabad Police, Islamabad Capital Territory Administration and World Health Organization met on Thursday to finalise preparations and arrangements for the conference. Pakistan and Afghanistan will participate in the conference representing South Asia along with countries from the Middle East and all North African Countries. Muhammad Ayub Sheikh, the secretary of the Health Ministry said that it was an honour for Pakistan to host the conference after years and that it was a collective responsibility of all the ministries and institutions to make it a success.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2017.