The selection of Dr. Margaret Chan, a Chinese national, to lead the World Health Organization is a diplomatic triumph for China and an indication of the country’s emerging presence on the world health stage.
Chan is known for her diplomacy and public leadership in helping contain Asian bird flu and SARS outbreaks. She is the first Chinese national to lead a major United Nations agency.
Her election by WHO member nations underscores China’s unique position as both a source of illness and a critical player in containing pathogens before they become pandemics. Chan was on the hot seat in 1997 when, as Hong Kong’s health director, she ordered the slaughter of 1.4 million chickens and ducks to control bird flu. In 2003, Chan led the effort to investigate the newly emerging Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.
“She basically talked the Hong Kong people through SARS,” Jim Yong Kim, a Harvard specialist in infectious disease, told the Boston Globe. “She is a wonderful communicator.”
While she has a strong international reputation, Chan privately clashed with authorities in Beijing, who covered up the earliest cases of SARS in 2002, allowing the disease to spread both within China and to other countries.
In the world of public health, the director-general of WHO is a powerful position with the potential to affect health efforts across the world. WHO is an agency of the United Nations, with a budget $1.7 billion budget and a staff of 8,500.
As the selection process progressed, rumors swirled over the horse trading that ensued. Just four days before the vote, China pledged to double its aid to Africa. After her election, Chan addressed the World Health Assembly, a body of health ministers from its 192 member states, and spoke of the need to focus on the health of Africa’s people, and women in general.
Chan also expressed deep concern about the looming threat of an influenza pandemic and spoke of systems to monitor and respond to such a threat. Chan is an expert in the field, most recently serving as WHO’s director of communicable diseases and pandemic planning. She also is committed to transparency in reporting health situations, a position that has grated on those in China’s government. Chan’s appointment is an indication of the importance of Asia in the fight against global health threats. The world would benefit if it coincided with China’s commitment to solving those problems.
