India's minister for health and family welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan is due in Dhaka today (Monday) to attend meetings of the WHO and enhance bilateral cooperation with Bangladesh, report agencies.
The Indian High Commission in Dhaka on Sunday said Harsh Vardhan would lead a strong delegation during his visit until September 12.
This is the first visit of the health minister and the third visit of a member of the India's new cabinet after it assumed office on May 26.
Earlier, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and junior external affairs minister VK Singh visited Dhaka.
Secretary (Health) Lov Verma, Secretary of Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) Nilanjan Sanyal, Director General (Health Services) Jagdish Prasad, and Director General of the Central Council for Research in Ayurveda Abhimanyu Kumar would accompany Vardhan.
A doctor by training, Vardhan will call on Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina during his visit and hold discussions with his counterpart Mohammed Nasim.
He earlier served as the health minister in Delhi and his performance is much lauded. .
The Indian High Commission says his meetings in Dhaka will help to furthering bilateral cooperation in the health sector.
Both sides will also sign a MoU on cooperation in the field of traditional systems of medicine and homoeopathy that India recently passed in its cabinet.
The initiative of cooperation in health was taken in September 2011 during PM Manmohan Singh's Dhaka visit.
That was the first move in this sector in 40 years' of bilateral relationship between the two countries. The first MoU on cooperation was signed in February last year.
But no joint working group meeting has been held yet.
As Health Minister of Delhi, his efforts in 1996 to eradicate Polio were a success which won widespread appreciation. In March 2014, India was declared polio-free by the WHO, as there had been no reported cases for three years.
Dr Vardhan has won several national and international awards including two of Rotary International, WHO Director General's Commendation Medal 1998, and 'Doctor of the last Decade' by Indian Medical Association, 2002.
