Jul 14, Kathmandu - The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that its South-East Asia regional chief, Saima Wazed, is on 'leave' after being accused of fraud.

The WHO has appointed a senior official from its Geneva headquarters as interim head.

Wazed is the daughter of former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India after last year’s coup.

She became the WHO’s South-East Asia regional head in the 2023 election, defeating Nepal’s Shambhu Prasad Acharya.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus informed regional member states of Wazed’s leave in an email sent to staff last week, the Financial Times reported.

Wazed headed the South-East Asia regional office in New Delhi.

Hasina was ousted by a student-led uprising last August. Then in March, Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission charged Wazed with fraud, forgery and abuse of power.

He is likely to be arrested if he returns from his post in India.

The WHO issued a statement saying that Wazed is currently on leave and that Katharina Boehme, the Assistant Director-General at the Geneva headquarters, is currently serving as the Executive Director in his place.

The Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission wrote to the WHO last month, requesting that Wazed be produced before a Bangladeshi court and that it do what is required of a person who is absconding for serious criminal offenses. The WHO then placed Wazed on leave and appointed Boehme.