KATHMANDU, Oct 1: The Government of Nepal has fielded the country's senior public health expert Dr Shambhu Prasad Acharya for the post of Southeast Asia Regional Director of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Talking to the Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS) on Sunday, Dr Acharya, a contender for the post, said that Nepal will vie with another candidate from Bangladesh in the election for the post slated for October 31.
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The voter countries are India, the Maldives, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar, Nepal, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste (aka East Timor) and Bhutan.
Dr Acharya urged Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to send a request letter to the voting countries to cast their votes in favor of Nepal in the upcoming election.
The sexagenarian public health professional with decades of international experience in the health sector expressed his sincere gratitude to Prime Minister Dahal for selecting him for the competition to represent the country.
He was confident that Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Prasad Saud, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepal's Permanent Missions to the United Nations in Geneva and New York would do the needful through diplomatic channels in favor of his candidacy for the post, adding that Nepal should not miss such an important opportunity.