Dr Margaret Chan Next WHO Director-General

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Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 08 Nov 2006 - 14:00 PDT


After being nominated by the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the post of Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan, 59, needs to be approved by the World Health Assembly, which will meet on November 9th - it is expected the nomination will be approved and the appointment made.

After interviewing candidates from a shortlist of five, the Board selected Dr. Chan as its nominee.

Dr. Chan is an expert on Bird Flu and respiratory diseases. She was Director of Health, Hong Kong, for nine years. As Director, she confronted the first human outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in 1997 (Hong Kong) and successfully defeated SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in Hong Kong in 2003. After joining WHO in 2003, she was quickly promoted to the position of Representative of the Director-General for Pandemic Influenza (flu pandemic), she was also Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases.

She qualified as a doctor at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. She also studied at the National University of Singapore, where she obtained a degree in Public Health.

Acting Director-General, WHO, Dr Anders Nordström, who has been at the helm since the death of Dr Lee Jong-Wook in May, 2006, will continue to do so until the new Director-General is appointed.

-- Photo of Dr. M Chan
-- http://www.who.int

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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