NEW DELHI, Aug. 22 -- Saima Wazed has warned the World Health Organization through her lawyers that she may go to court unless it opens an independent investigation into the decision that removed her from duty, escalating a dispute she has pursued privately with Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for roughly eight months.

Wazed remains the WHO's listed Regional Director for South-East Asia. She has not run the office since 11 July 2025, when Tedros told staff in a brief internal email that she was going on indefinite leave. Catharina Boehme, until then the WHO's Assistant Director-General for External Relations, arrived four days later as Officer in Charge and has run the regional office since. No return date was given then, and...