The WHO Executive Board has selected Margaret Chan as the next Director General of the agency (via AP). Her name will go to the agency's governing body, the World Health Assembly, for approval tomorrow. Chan was strongly championed by China.
As we have made clear here, we didn't think Chan was the optimal choice at this point in WHO's history. We hope we were wrong and will look on with anxious interest to see how independent and visionary she will be in advancing WHO's mission.
We wish Dr. Chan -- and the rest -- of us, good luck.
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Tomorrow I am off to New York for this meeting on hurricanes and climate, sponsored by Columbia University's International Research Institute for Climate and Society.
Dr. Margaret Chan, a Hong Kong native, has been at the helm of the World Health Organization (WHO) now for almost a year. The Associated Press (no by-line) has an interesting sketch of her, which includes her penchant for using song as an ice-breaking device in contentious settings.
In an example of the adage, "Be careful what you wish for," China's choice for WHO Director General, Dr. Margaret Chan, is already finding her reputation will be held hostage to the behavior of China itself, not an enviable position.
WHO's Director General is talking tough, but is she talking tough to the right people? We don't know, but we can keep our eye open for results:
I meant to post this in the previous thread on the WHO nomination, but couldn't log on. It is now oudated re. the event itself, still of interest I hope..now hints as to why Kouchner was eliminated.
K has stood for election in France about 10 times. I am probably inflating that no. a little bit but looking up a complete list would take too long. He never came close to winning, or decent scores.
(All of his Gvmt. posts have been nominations.)
While his very recent failures on the Socialist ticket can be explained by three positions, two anti-socialist (for war in Iraq, for the 'contrat première embauche'), and one on which the socialists were split (European Constitution), all that cannot apply to his previous bids.
Recently, he tried to obtain the Socialist nomination for the Presidential race, and has failed (or will soon ...)
Contradiction: in popularity polls (who would you prefer as pres. of F? for ex.) he outranks the likely - and hugely popular - contender, Segolène Royal! He has an aura of goodness and saintliness and aggrieved and righteous aggression that projects very well on the TV, he is a good media manipulator, does stunts such as distributing rice in Somalia (three bags were needed to get proper footage, all the rice was thrown away) touches on issues that many agree on, etc. It is that popularity, I feel that touches Americans (even experts like people on this board), just as it works in France - except amongst high officials, cadres, and the voters at the booth!
He was removed from his post as Administrator of the UN in Kosovo by Kofi Annan for reasons never clearly stated.
He was a candidate for head of UNHCR and lost.
Example of alinenating his 'base' and/or contradicting himself...Americans will not know that the oil company Total-Final-Elf was cited several times for using slave labor in Burma. (Usual story, aborted court cases, in France, Belgium, and even the US, as Unocal was involved as well...) K. wrote an official report - he was nominated as official investigator or something like that - denying these allegations and stating the fault lay uniquely with the Burmese Gvmt. You can imagine what Human Rights Associations, and all affiliated type organisations thought of that!
Chan is the perfect choice, since she was instrumental in stopping the release of bird flu strains. She will ignore the epidemic of suicide among poor starving farmers in India, and insist suicide is not a public health issue. She will work with big pharma to direct WHO funds to health problems relating to the rich, such as obesity; since in a post anti-biotic world, the fact that MDR-TB and XDR-TB are exploding across the world; especially in Russia and South Africa, among prison inmates; will be ignored.
You are watching South African Aparteid applied across the world. The rich and middle class will hide behind high walls, as in the US and Isreal. And the poor will die of neglect, on the other side of the wall.
The reality of MDR-TB and XDR-TB will be hidden from you until it kills someone you know. The corruption of the food for oil program, or the $800,000,000 stolen by Iraqi government officials, from US taxpayers will be ignored.
But death will be looking you in the face when XDR-TB becomes a pandemic. Your million dollars will not save you.
As everyone insists the bird flu will kill you, you may be killed by TB, in a form that in incurable, XDR-TB, and your money will not save you. Big pharma has sealed your fate, since there will be no new anti-biotics against the disease for 5 years, at the best. Because capitalism is based on profict, not on saving human life. Why do you think those in the UN and Iraq stole your taxpayer money? Why do you think the oligarchy of the superpower put Chan in control of WHO?
As we sink into barbaric slime, Chan will save us all.
There goes the ballgame.
It worries me that China approves of Chan's appointment.I DON'T TRUST China and fear that she will be little more than a puppet.