The untimely death this week of the World Health Organization's chief, Lee Jong-Wook, leaves the United Nations health body with some difficult decisions to make about how to find his successor."It's come at the worst possible time for WHO" in light of issues such as avian influenza, said Zsuzsanna Jakab, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. "You need leadership, and this leadership is now gone."This week, WHO announced it was appointing Anders Nordström, now assistant director-general for general management, as acting director-general. Meanwhile, representatives of member countries in Geneva for the ongoing World Health Assembly are now pondering how to appoint the next permanent director-general. The process will begin in earnest next week when the WHO executive board comes together for a scheduled meeting.At that meeting, the 32 members of the board, all appointed by WHO member states, will consider a range of...
The ScientistOxfamambitious goalsThe Scientiststephenpincock@the-scientist.comThe Scientisthttp://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/23475/http://www.who.int/en/The Scientisthttp://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/22989/http://www.ecdc.eu.inthttp://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2006/s08/en/http://www.oxfam.org.ukhttp://www.who.int/dg/lee/tribute/en/
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