Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), arrived at the Katunayake Airport on the morning of October 12 to participate as the Chief Guest at the 78th South-East Asia Regional International Health Conference, which is being held in Sri Lanka.
The high-level conference, organized by the World Health Organization, is scheduled to take place from October 13 to 15 at the Cinnamon Life Hotel in Colombo. Health ministers from countries across the South-East Asian region are expected to attend the event.
Dr. Tedros arrived in Sri Lanka aboard Qatar Airways flight QR-660 from Doha at 9:40 a.m. and was received at the airport’s special guest lounge by Dr. Anil Jasinghe, Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Mass Media.
However, an issue arose when journalists at Katunayake Airport, who had obtained written permission from both the Ministry of Information and Mass Media and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to cover the event, were denied access to the airport’s special guest lounge by airport authorities. As a result, media personnel were forced to cover the arrival from outside the designated area.
The three-day regional conference will focus on strengthening collaboration among member countries to address public health challenges and advance the WHO’s strategic priorities in the South-East Asia region.
