Dr Margaret Chan to be WHO's next director-general

Dr Margaret Chan, of China, will be the next Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO). She was previously WHO assistant director-general for communicable diseases and representative of the director-general for pandemic influenza.

Her medical degree was obtained at the University of Western Ontario in Canada and she also has a degree in public health from the National University of Singapore.

Dr Chan joined the Hong Kong Department of Health in 1978, and was appointed director of health in 1994. In this role, she launched services focusing on prevention of disease and promotion of health. She also introduced initiatives to improve communicable disease surveillance and response, enhance training for public health professionals, and to establish better local and international collaboration. She has effectively managed outbreaks of avian influenza and the world's first outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

In her acceptance speech, Dr Chan told the World Health Assembly she wanted to be judged by the impact WHO's work has on the people of Africa and on women across the globe. 'What matters most to me is people,' she said, 'and two specific groups of people in particular. Improvements in the health of the people of Africa and the health of women are key indicators of the performance of WHO.

'All regions, all countries, all people are equally important. Our work must touch on the lives of everyone, everywhere,' she added. 'But we must focus our attention on the people in greatest need.'

Dr Chan told the Assembly that as director-general she would focus on six key issues: health development, security, capacity, information and knowledge, partnership, and performance. Underlining the importance of strong systems to deliver healthcare to the people who need it, she said: 'All the donated drugs in the world won't do any good without an infrastructure for their delivery. You cannot deliver healthcare if the staff you trained at home are working abroad.'

Dr Chan underlined the diverse approaches needed to strengthen health and health care in different parts of the world. 'Many countries in Africa face the challenge of rebuilding social support systems. Others in central Asia and Eastern Europe are undergoing transition from planned to market economies. They want WHO support. They want to make sure that equitable and accessible systems built on primary healthcare are not sacrificed in the process.'

Lack of resources and too little political commitment are often the true 'killers', she stated.