- Margaret Chan
-
Margaret Chan
陳馮富珍
7th Director-General of the World Health Organization Incumbent Assumed office
4 January 2007Preceded by Anders Nordström (Acting) 4th Director of Health (Hong Kong) In office
June 1994 ─ 20 August 2003Preceded by Lee Shu-Hung Succeeded by Lam Ping-Yan Personal details Born 1947
British Hong KongNationality 
China (Hong Kong)
UN (United Nations Laissez-Passer)Spouse(s) David Chan [1] Margaret Chan Traditional Chinese 陳馮富珍 Simplified Chinese 陈冯富珍 Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Chén Féng Fùzhēn Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping Can4 Fung4 Fu3 Jan1 Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, OBE JP (born 1947 in Hong Kong) is the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). Chan was elected by the Executive Board of the WHO on 8 November 2006, and was endorsed in a special meeting of the World Health Assembly on the following day. Chan has previously served as Director of Health in the Hong Kong Government (1994-2003), representative of the WHO Director-General for Pandemic Influenza and WHO Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases (2003-2006).
Contents
Qualifications
Margaret Chan was initially trained as a Home Economics teacher at the Northcote College of Education in Hong Kong. She then earned her B.A. degree in Home Economics[2] and her M.D. degree at the University of Western Ontario in 1973 and 1977, respectively, as well as her MSc (Public Health) degree at the National University of Singapore in 1985. In 1997, she was given the distinction for the Fellowship of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom and was also appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.[3]
She joined the Hong Kong Government in December 1978 as a Medical Officer. In November 1989, she was promoted to Assistant Director of the Department of Health (Hong Kong). In April 1992, she was promoted to Deputy Director and, in June 1994, was named the first female in Hong Kong to head the Department of Health. She left the Hong Kong Government in August 2003 after 25 years of service to join the World Health Organization.
As Director of Health of Hong Kong
Her profile was raised by her handling, in those positions, of the 1997 H5N1 avian influenza outbreak and the 2003 SARS outbreak in Hong Kong. After the first victim of the H5N1, Chan first tried to reassure Hong Kong residents with her infamous statements like, "I ate chicken last night" [4] or "I eat chicken every day, don't panic, everyone".[5][6][7] When many more H5N1 cases appeared, she was criticised for misleading the public. [8] In the end, she was credited for helping bring the epidemic under control by the slaughter of 1.5 million chickens in the region in the face of stiff political opposition.[9]
Her performance during the SARS outbreak, which ultimately led to 299 deaths, attracted harsh criticism from the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and many SARS victims and their relatives.[7] She was criticised by the Legislative Council for her passiveness,[10] for believing in misleading information shared by the mainland authority, and did not act swiftly.[11] On the other hand, the SARS expert committee established by the Hong Kong Government to assess its handling of the crisis, opined that the failure was not Chan's fault, but due to the structure of Hong Kong's health care system, in which the separation of the hospital authority from the public health authority resulted in problems with data sharing.[12]
Tenure as WHO Director-General
Appointed to the post in November 2006, her post will run through to June 2012.[13]
Dr. Chan considers the "improvements in the health of the people of Africa and the health of women" to be the key performance indicator of WHO and she wants to focus WHO's attention on "the people in greatest need."[14]
In February 2007, Chan provoked the anger of humanitarian and civil society groups by questioning the quality of generic medicines while on a visit to Thailand.[15]
After a visit to North Korea in April 2010, Chan said malnutrition was a problem in the country but that North Korea's health system would be the envy of many developing countries because of the abundance of medical staff. She also noted there were no signs of obesity in the country, which is a newly emerging problem in other parts of Asia. Chan's comments marked a significant departure from that of her predecessor, Gro Harlem Brundtland, who said in 2001 that North Korea's health system was near collapse.[16] The director-general's assessment was criticized, including in a Wall Street Journal editorial which called her statements "surreal." The editorial further stated, "Ms. Chan is either winking at the reality to maintain contact with the North or she allowed herself to be fooled."[17]
References
- ^ "Possible WHO head is Western grad". The London Free Press. 2006-10-13. http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2006/10/13/2017113.html.
- ^ Helen Branswell (2006-11-08). "University of Western Ontario delighted med school grad named WHO chief". Canadian Press. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/061108/health/health_who_chan_canada.
- ^ Margaret Chan Professional Experience
- ^ "The Flu Fighters". Asia Week. 1998-01-30. http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/98/0130/cs1.html.
- ^ "Zero bird flu=zero live chicken? Dissecting central slaughtering (in Chinese)". Sing Tao Daily. 2006-09-06. http://edu.singtao.com/article/article_detail.asp?id=68.
- ^ "Chan wins. Lead Health department for 10 years, slaughter chicken to stop bird flu (in Chinese)". Ta Kung Pao. 2006-11-09. http://www.takungpao.com/news/06/11/09/GW-648176.htm.
- ^ a b Matthew Lee (2005-07-29). "Swine virus fears mount". The Standard. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/Front_Page/GG29Aa01.html.
- ^ "Margaret Chan "at the right time" (in Chinese)". Asia Times Online. 2006-11-09. http://www.atchinese.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24828&Itemid=110.
- ^ "Bird flu expert to lead WHO". BBC. 2006-11-06. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6128220.stm.
- ^ Matthew Lee (July 10, 2004). "Legco censures Chan over SARS". The Standard. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=7058&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=20040710&sear_year=2004. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
- ^ "Report of the Select Committee to inquire into the handling of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak by the Government and the Hospital Authority". Legislative Council of Hong Kong. 2004-07. http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr03-04/english/sc/sc_sars/reports/sars_rpt.htm.
- ^ Miriam Shuchman (2007-02-15). "Improving global health--Margaret Chan at the WHO.". N Engl J Med. http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/356/7/653#R2.
- ^ Dr Margaret Chan: Biography, WHO website
- ^ "Chan sets out goals for WHO". The Standard. 2006-11-10. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=31500&sid=10799187&con_type=1.
- ^ "WHO Chief's Stand on Generic Drugs Slammed". IPS. 2007-02-02. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36420.
- ^ Jonathan Lynn (30 April 2010). "North Korea has plenty of doctors: WHO". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63T3TW20100430.
- ^ "Health Care Paradise". The Wall Street Journal. 3 May 2010. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704342604575221661454759110.html?KEYWORDS=margaret+chan+north+korea.
Further reading
- Dr Chan's CV (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China)
- Health, Welfare and Food Bureau, HK Government introduction
- China's Margaret Chan says to work tirelessly for world health (Peoples' Daily Online)
- Bird flu expert set to lead WHO (BBC NEWS)
- WHO Board Nominates Margaret Chan As Director General (Wall Street Journal Online)
- Who's Next at WHO? (Time online's blog)
External links
- WHO website:
Non-profit organization positions Preceded by
Anders Nordström (Acting)Director-General of the World Health Organization
2007–Succeeded by
IncumbentCategories:- Hong Kong doctors
- University of Western Ontario alumni
- World Health Organization officials
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- 1947 births
- Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians
- Living people
- Women physicians
- Public health and safety in Hong Kong
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