Margaret Chan

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This is a Chinese name; Fung is the maiden name and Chan is the married name.
Margaret Chan
陳馮富珍
Margaret Chan at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in 2011
7th Director General of the World Health Organization
Assumed office
4 January 2007
Preceded byAnders Nordström (Acting)
4th Director of Health, Hong Kong
In office
June 1994 ─ 20 August 2003
Preceded byLee Shu-Hung
Succeeded byLam Ping-Yan
Personal details
Born1947 (age 76–77)
British Hong Kong
NationalityHong Kong Chinese
Canadian[1]
SpouseDavid Chan[2]
Margaret Chan
Traditional Chinese陳馮富珍
Simplified Chinese陈冯富珍

Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, OBE MD JP (born 1947 in Hong Kong) is the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). Chan was elected by the Executive Board of 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). As of 2014, she is ranked as the 30th most powerful woman in the world according to Forbes.[3]

Qualifications

Margaret Chan was initially trained as a Home Economics teacher at the Northcote College of Education in Hong Kong. She then earned her BA degree in Home Economics[4] and her MD 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.[5]

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. 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"[6] or "I eat chicken every day, don't panic, everyone".[7][8][9] When many more H5N1 cases appeared, she was criticised for misleading the public. [10] 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.[11]

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.[9] She was criticised by the Legislative Council for her passiveness,[12] for believing in misleading information shared by the mainland authority, and did not act swiftly.[13] 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.[14]

Tenure as WHO Director-General

Appointed to the post in November 2006, her first term ran through to June 2012.[15] In her appointment speech, Chan considered 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."[16] On 18 January 2012, Chan was nominated by the WHO's Executive Board for a second term[17] and was confirmed by the World Health Assembly on 23 May 2012.[18] In her acceptance speech, Chan indicated that universal coverage is a 'powerful equaliser' and the most powerful concept of public health.[18] Chan's new term began on 1 July 2012 and continues until 30 June 2017.[18]

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.[19]

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.[20] 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.[21] The director-general's assessment was criticised, 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."[22]

In 2014, she was ranked as the 30th most powerful woman in the world, based on her position as Director-General, by Forbes. Her ranking increased from 33rd in 2013.[3]

References

  1. ^ Young, Ian (28 May 2013). "From Hong Kong to Canada and back: the migrants who came home from home". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  2. ^ "Possible WHO head is Western grad". The London Free Press. 13 October 2006.
  3. ^ a b "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women". Forbes. Forbes. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  4. ^ Helen Branswell (8 November 2006). "University of Western Ontario delighted med school grad named WHO chief". Canadian Press.
  5. ^ Margaret Chan Professional Experience
  6. ^ "The Flu Fighters". Asia Week. 30 January 1998.
  7. ^ "Zero bird flu=zero live chicken? Dissecting central slaughtering (in Chinese)". Sing Tao Daily. 6 September 2006.
  8. ^ "Chan wins. Lead Health department for 10 years, slaughter chicken to stop bird flu (in Chinese)". Ta Kung Pao. 9 November 2006.
  9. ^ a b Matthew Lee (29 July 2005). "Swine virus fears mount". The Standard.
  10. ^ "Margaret Chan "at the right time" (in Chinese)". Asia Times Online. 9 November 2006.
  11. ^ "Bird flu expert to lead WHO". BBC. 6 November 2006.
  12. ^ Matthew Lee (10 July 2004). "Legco censures Chan over SARS". The Standard. Retrieved 24 July 2008. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ "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. July 2004.
  14. ^ Miriam Shuchman (15 February 2007). "Improving global health—Margaret Chan at the WHO". N Engl J Med.
  15. ^ Dr Margaret Chan: Biography, WHO website
  16. ^ "Chan sets out goals for WHO". The Standard. 10 November 2006.
  17. ^ Dr Margaret Chan nominated for a second term to be WHO Director-General, WHO web site
  18. ^ a b c Dr Margaret Chan appointed to a second term as Director-General, WHO News Release, 23 May 2012
  19. ^ "WHO Chief's Stand on Generic Drugs Slammed". IPS. 2 February 2007.
  20. ^ "UN health chief praises N. Korean health system as 'envy'". AFP. 30 April 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  21. ^ Jonathan Lynn (30 April 2010). "North Korea has plenty of doctors: WHO". Reuters.
  22. ^ "Health Care Paradise". The Wall Street Journal. 3 May 2010.

Further reading

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Margaret Chan.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Margaret Chan.
Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by Director-General of the World Health Organization
2007– 		Succeeded by
Incumbent

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