Saima Wazed resigns as WHO regional director amid fraud probes

Saima Wazed, daughter of Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, resigned as the World Health Organization’s Southeast Asia regional director amid fraud and forgery investigations by the WHO and Bangladeshi authorities. Wazed, who began a five-year term in early 2024, had been on unpaid administrative leave since July 2025 after Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission filed charges against her. The allegations involve travel expenses related to a trip to China, her academic credentials and the acquisition of land in Bangladesh; Wazed has denied wrongdoing, characterizing the travel matter as an administrative error and defending her eligibility for the land. In her resignation letter, she said she had lost trust in WHO leadership and that nearly a year without pay had made her financial situation untenable.