By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT

tsmith-cartwright@tribunemedia.net

MEMBERS of the 73rd World Health Assembly have elected Bahamian Keva Bain as the body’s president.

Ms Bain is The Bahamas’ permanent representative to the United Nations.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be the first time that the two-day session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) will be hosted virtually with representatives from the UN’s 194 member states. This year’s forum is expected to be almost entirely dedicated to global coordination against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The WHA is normally held annually in Geneva, Switzerland, and apart from making decisions for the World Health Organization, its main functions are to determine the policies of the WHO, appoint the director-general, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed programme budget.

Shortly after being elected, Ms Bain said the WHO must be steadfast in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and balance it with the need to help ensure the survival of many people.

“The role of the World Health Organization in this time of crisis reminds us that we live in an interdependent and interconnected world, where health and well-being are shaped by circumstances, decisions and events occurring in distant places. Bacterial threats travel almost as quickly and encumbered as email messages, Twitter and money flow,” Sputnik News quoted Ms Bain as saying.

“The World Health Organization must be steadfast in guiding the response to COVID-19 and the same time exact a balance with its mandate to meet the challenges that threaten the survival of many people, including those with chronic non-communicable diseases.”

The virtual meeting comes after a decision by the United States to withhold funding from the WHO due to its handling of the COVID-19 crisis.

International media also report that member states will also address a proposal for inquiry into the origins of COVID-19, and a systematic review of global response.

Ms Bain’s professional career spans both the public and private sectors. Once a foreign service officer for The Bahamas, during her tenure, she was posted to the Bahamas High Commission in London, the Consulate General in New York and at the Permanent Mission of The Bahamas to the United Nations in New York.

She has degrees in economics and commercial law.

A 1977 graduate of St Anne’s High School in Fox Hill, Ms Bain is a member of Lincoln’s Inn. She was called to both the English Bar (non-practising) and the Bahamas Bar. She served as a Crown counsel within the Office of the Attorney General and also served as acting registrar at the Registrar General’s Department and acting deputy registrar of the Court of Appeal.