Minister for Health and Family Welfare Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim called on the WHO Director General Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland in Geneva on Wednesday, an official message said.

During the meeting at the WHO headquarters, Sheikh Selim apprised Dr Brundtland of Bangladesh's current health concerns of arsenic contamination in groundwater, dengue fever and re-emergence of malaria and kala-azar.

He referred to the personal commitment of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the welfare nation and said her personal involvement in the polio eradication drive as well as the holding of National Immunisation Day for the last three years had attained success in the health sector of the South Asian country. Polio has almost been eliminated from Bangladesh due to the commitment of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to this driver.

The health minister also briefed Dr Brundtland about the present government's initiative to convert the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University into a centre of excellence. The WHO director general responded positively when Sheikh Selim sought WHO's support in this regard.