This is the VOA Special English Development Report.
South Korean doctor Jong Wook Leehas been named the new director-general of the World HealthOrganization. He will replace former Norwegian Prime Minister GroHarlem Brundtland who is leaving in July after five years in office.
Doctor Lee’s nomination was announced last month at W-H-Oheadquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The organization’s thirty-twomember supervisory committee chose him from a group of fivecandidates. The full one-hundred-ninety-two-nation World HealthAssembly must approve his nomination in May.
Doctor Lee will be the first South Korean to lead the U-N agency,which has a yearly budget of more than one-thousand-million dollars.He has worked for the World Health Organization for nineteen yearsand is currently the head of its anti-tuberculosis program.
Jong Wook Lee said his main goal will be fighting health problemsin Africa, especially AIDS and the H-I-V virus that causes it. Healso praised Doctor Brundtland’s work over the past few years tofight infectious diseases and diseases caused by smoking. He saidthese programs will continue. But, Doctor Lee added that the W-H-Owill soon face new health problems around the world. He says thatthe agency must take a position on new technologies, such as geneticcopying or cloning.
Doctor Lee will be the sixth director-general of the W-H-O sincethe U-N health agency was established in nineteen-forty-eight. OtherW-H-O heads have been from Canada, Brazil, Denmark and Japan. DoctorBrundtland was the first woman to lead the World HealthOrganization.
Supporters say she will be remembered most for her efforts toreduce tobacco use around the world. Doctor Brundtland argued thattobacco is a major preventable cause of millions of deaths eachyear. She worked hard to prove that smoking was a leading cause ofslow economic growth and development in poor nations. W-H-O membercountries are expected to approve the organization’s first evertreaty on tobacco during its yearly meeting in May.
The World Health Organization leads the international fightagainst deadly diseases, including malaria and tuberculosis. Theagency is also responsible for setting international requirementsfor medicines, health care and food safety.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by JillMoss.