[Ip-health] The Scientist (25 July 2006): Hunt for new WHO head heats up

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/24063/


---------------------------

By Stephen Pincock

Hunt for new WHO head heats up
Three names emerge as potential replacements for Lee Jong-Wook

[Published 25th July 2006 05:22 PM GMT]

The process of appointing a new director general to the World Health
Organization after the death of Lee Jong-Wook is in full swing, with
three high-profile candidates already in the running, and at least one
other being discussed.

Finland has nominated Pekka Puska
<http://www.ktl.fi/portal/english/osiot/ktl/organization/director_general/>=
,
director general of its National Public Health Institute, for the
director general's post, /The Scientist / learned yesterday (July 24).
 From 2001 to 2003, Puska was director of noncommunicable disease
prevention and health promotion at WHO.

He joins a growing list of candidates. Last Monday (July 17), it emerged
that Mexico had proposed its health minister, Julio Frenk
<http://www.presidencia.gob.mx/gabinete/index.php?contenido=3D15038&gabinet=
e=3Ddesarrollo>,
for the job. Frenk, a 52-year-old former academic with a PhD in health
care organization and psychology, had previously been WHO's executive
director, evidence and information for policy.

In early June, WHO's regional director for the Western Pacific, Shigeru
Omi <http://www.wpro.who.int/regional_director/RD.htm>, also became a
candidate <http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/announce/2006/6/0605.html> for
the top job. "I can confirm that Dr. Omi has taken a leave of absence,"
WHO spokeswoman Christine McNab told /The Scientist/. This is in
accordance with the organization's rules
<http://www.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB118/B118_R2-en.pdf>, and "any
WHO staff member who is a candidate would do the same," she said via Email.

WHO plans to appoint the new director general on November 9, succeeding
Lee <http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/23487/>, who died
suddenly <http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/23475/> on May 22
after surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain.

Member nations of WHO have until September 5 to make their nominations,
which the organization's 34-member executive board will gradually reduce
to a single nomination during a meeting from November 6-8.

A special one-day session of the World Health Assembly is expected to
ratify that nomination on November 9, and decide the details of when the
new leader takes up the contract. Until then, Anders Nordstr=F6m will
continue as acting director-general.

There are plenty of possible contenders out there, said Gill Walt
<http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/hpu/staff/gwalt.html>, professor of
international health policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine. "I get the feeling that there are quite a few credible
candidates," she told /The Scientist/.

But the process of deciding who gets the job is steeped in politics,
particularly jostling among countries from the WHO's six different
global regions <http://www.who.int/about/regions/en/>, seasoned
WHO-watchers told /The Scientist/. "It's always a political process, and
bound by who supports whom," Walt said. "There are always machinations."

"Partly it's the regions saying that we haven't had a Latino or South
Asian director general, for example," said Mohga Kamal Smith from Oxfam.
"And behind the scenes there's also US pressure to get somebody they
want, too."

In fact, there are numerous political factors at play, said Derek Yach,
director of the Rockefeller Foundation's program on global health, and a
former executive director at WHO. "Few people are na=EFve enough to
believe that [it's only about] the best person with the soundest policies."

He agreed that the support of the US is an important factor for any
candidate. "The US is looking for people who have a good strong track
record...and a few hot-button issues, like reproductive health and
intellectual property."

But there are other countries who have strong influences on the
proceedings, including the European Union, developing nations like India
and Brazil, and Nordic countries, Yach told /The Scientist/.

African nations may also feel the time has come for a director general
from that continent. One possible candidate mentioned by several of
those contacted by /The Scientist / is Anarfi Asamoa-Baah
<http://www.who.int/dg/adg/asamoa_baah/en/index.html>, an assistant
director-general of WHO from Ghana.

Considering the accelerated pace of this election process, it's unlike
there will be many contenders, Yach said. "I think if they get up to
five it'll be very interesting. People know the composition of the
board, so they know how they are going to get the 16 or 17 votes" out of
34, needed for a majority.

Stephen Pincock