Bhutanese Health Minister Dechen Wangmo has been elected as the president of the World Health Assembly (WHA), a forum of the World Health Organization with 194 countries as its member states, thus becoming the first Bhutanese to be the president of the global health body.

She was elected on Monday during the 74th inaugural session of the WHA in Switzerland. During her address, she said it was only through the power of "solidarity and cohesiveness" that nations could overcome the global pandemic.
 
“The pandemic has once again reminded all that when it came to critical and common global threats, the world was a singular unit. We must come together as one, to devise common solutions for problems that can affect us all,” Wangmo was quoted as saying by Kuensel. 

She also suggested establishing a Global Humanitarian Corridor to ensure the seamless flow of medicines, vaccines, and other critical health commodities during pandemics and public health emergencies.

Women, children, differently-abled, and those with chronic diseases are the most vulnerable people in every pandemic and global health emergency.

She also remained that it is important to keep the routine health services running. “Equal numbers of people are dying of preventable cancers,” she said.

Her election to the body would provide better visibility to the small nation which has so far managed the Covid crisis with rare and unlikely success.