Top Bhutan honour for former Punjab cadre bureaucrat Poonam Khetrapal
Aditi Tandon
New Delhi, December 18
Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director WHO South-East Asia, and a retired Punjab cadre IAS officer of 1975 batch, has been awarded Bhutan’s prestigious National Order of Merit Gold Medal for her distinguished services to the country.
The King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk honoured Singh at Bhutan’s 116th National Day celebration here.
“Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the first woman Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia Region, played a pivotal role in supporting transformative healthcare leadership in Bhutan from 2014 to 2024. Her tenure witnessed remarkable strides, including Bhutan becoming one of the first countries to eliminate measles and rubella ahead of schedule. She made significant contributions to help Bhutan excel in COVID-19 vaccination,” the King said.
“Khetrapal Singh’s impactful strategies extended across communicable diseases, reproductive health, health systems, and social determinants, and had a lasting positive impact on Bhutan’s public health services,” he said.
In a video message post the award ceremony, Singh thanked Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk for the award.
She said, “As Regional Director for WHO South-East Asia for the last decade, it has been my vision to address priority health issues through eight flagship programmes, and promote health and well-being for everyone, everywhere.”
The Regional Director said Bhutan’s efforts and achievements in the last decade have been exceptional – eliminating polio, maternal and neonatal tetanus, eliminating measles and rubella, taking the lead in WHO South-East Asia Region for addressing mental health and making efforts to eliminate cervical cancer by expanding HPV vaccination and screening.
Poonam Khetrapal Singh became the first Indian to be elected as the Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia. After a five-year term beginning February 2014, she was unanimously re-elected by the 11 Member countries of the Region, home to one quarter of the world’s population, for another five-year term from February 2019.
During her decade-long term, the Region eradicated polio and eliminated maternal and neonatal tetanus. Bhutan and four other countries eliminated measles and rubella. The Region’s share in global measles deaths dropped from 40% in 2014 to 8% by the end of 2021.
Countries initiated mainstreaming screening, diagnosing and treatment for non-communicable diseases at the primary health care level and rolled out multi-sectoral responses to address key risk factors for non-communicable diseases.
Between 2010 and 2021, the Region recorded 69% decline in maternal mortality, the steepest globally; 45% decline in under five mortality, 39% decline in neonatal mortality and 54% decline in stillbirths. Availability of doctors, nurses and midwives increased by over 30.6% since 2014.
Singh identified elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTD) as a regional flagship.
Six countries have eliminated at least one NTD. Two countries eliminated malaria. Three eliminated mother-to-child transmission of syphilis and HIV. Four countries achieved hepatitis B control through vaccination.
