On 11-12 July 2023, H.E. Mr. Vijavat Isarabhakdi, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand, visited Bangladesh to attend the International Conference on Public Health and Diplomacy to celebrate WHO's 75th anniversary as well as to commemorate the long-standing collaboration and partnership in public health. 

The opening ceremony of the conference on 11 July 2023 at Pan Pacific Sonargaon was presided by H.E. Shiekh Hasina, MP, the Hon'ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh and joined by about 200 high level officials from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Maldives, Thailand, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. 

The Vice Minister shared Thailand's perspective and best practices to address the daunting public health challenges through public health diplomacy and international technical cooperation. He emphasized the need to invest more on physical and mental health based on past experience on pandemic management. He commended the Bangladeshi Government for hosting the conference. 

After the ceremony, the Vice Minister paid a courtesy call on H.E. Mr. Zahid Maleque, MP, Hon'ble Minister of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh. Both sides exchanged views and best practices regarding COVID-19 management, especially the vaccination campaign to reduce infection rate, as well as the expansion of health accessibilty for people from both urban and remote areas. The Vice Minister also noted the proposal from Bangladesh to exchange medical personnel to share best practices and enhance public health capacity.