78th WHO Regional Committee Session for South-East Asia Held in Colombo and SEAR Nations Adopt Colombo Declaration on Healthy Ageing.

The 78th session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee (RC78) for South-East Asia was held from October 13 to 15, 2025, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, under the chairmanship of Sri Lanka’s Minister of Health, Nalinda Jayatissa. The event gathered regional health leaders to deliberate on pressing health priorities in the South-East Asia Region (SEAR).

      - The session was formally inaugurated by Jagath Wickramaratne, Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, marking the commencement of high-level health policy discussions involving ministers, experts, and WHO officials from across SEAR nations.

      - The conference witnessed the participation of Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General (DG) of WHO, and Dr. Catharina Boehme, Officer-in-Charge of WHO South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO), along with senior health officials from member countries of the region.

      - India was represented by Anupriya Patel, Union Minister of State (MoS), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW), Government of India (GoI). Her participation underscored India’s leadership in strengthening regional health cooperation and advancing a collective response mechanism for public health challenges in South and South-East Asia.

Main Point :-   (i) The session concluded with the unanimous adoption of the Colombo Declaration on “Healthy Ageing through Strengthened Primary Health Care (PHC)”, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing elderly health as the ageing population in SEAR is projected to double by 2050.

      (ii) The declaration calls for integration of healthy ageing into national health policies and PHC-oriented health systems, promoting accessible, equitable, and age-responsive health services across all levels—from prevention and promotion to rehabilitation and palliative care.

(iii) The session highlighted SEAR’s commitment to universal health coverage (UHC), digital health innovations, and pandemic preparedness, reinforcing WHO’s mission to strengthen resilient, inclusive, and people-centered health systems across the region.
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