:: World Health Organisation has a new leader ::
A TB expert from South Korea,
Jong-Wook Lee, has been elected the
new Director General of the
World Health Organisation.
Dr. Lee has said that he will make tackling the
AIDS pandemic +
decentralising decision-making his priorities.
The retiring DG,
Gro Harlem Brundtland (a former primer minister of Norway) was responsible for transforming the WHO into one of the most effective agencies of the UN and elevating the profile of
neglected diseases such as
Malaria,
Polio +
TB.
In 1987, Gro Harlem also authored a hugely influential report called
Our Common Future which defined sustainable development as "
development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Her most recent achievements have included ensuring unprecendent co-operation + international action in order to eliminate the threat of
SARS and negotiating an
anti-smoking pact which
requires countries to ban or impose tough restrictions on tobacco advertising, sponsorship + promotion within 5 years! Pretty impressive stuff and clearly a very tough act to follow!
Earth-Info.Net sincerely hopes that the relevance + effectiveness of the WHO can be maintained, and that
Peter Piot the head of
UNAIDS (who lost the election for the top job) will stay within the
UN.