New WHO Director General elected
From Tuesday, January 28, 2003
The closely contested election for Director General of the WHO has finally ended after two ties according to this Press Trust of India story in the Hindustan Times. One of my closest friends Brian was working on the runner up's campaign in Geneva and is obviously disappointed but I hope that the WHO veteran who was elected to head it will do a good job as "WHO's chief technical and administrative officer [who] sets the policy for the organisation's international health work."
[South Korean] Jong Wook Lee was selected with 17 votes by the WHO's 32-member executive board against 15 votes for his main rival, the Belgian head of the UN's programme against HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Peter Piot, WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told reporters.
Since December 2000, Lee, aged 57, has headed the Geneva-based UN health agency's anti-tuberculosis programme. He joined WHO in 1983.