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Disease burden to test
new WHO chief

>From D Ravi Kanth, DH News Service GENEVA, July 21

Deccan Herald- July 22, 2003

As Dr Lee Jong-Wook - a public health specialist from South Korea and a
leading light in polio eradication - takes over office on Monday as
Director-General of the World Health Organization, hopes are pinned on
his
leadership to tackle the escalating disease burden in poor countries.

Unlike his high-profile predecessor and former Norwegian prime minister
Gro
Harlem Brundtland, Dr Lee is a WHO-insider with strong public health
credentials. His election to WHO's top job was a tough race in which he
won
the final lap by just one vote.

Dr Lee told Deccan Herald last week that he was fully involved in the
polio
eradication campaign and has visited Bangalore and Hyderabad several
times
to oversee the eradication programme.

"If I could succeed in polio-eradication, why can't I bring measurable
results in tackling HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria?" he asked.

Dr Lee was involved in his country's leprosy programme and,
subsequently,
moved to the WHO to look after polio eradication.

His motto is guided by three principles: "We must do the right things.
We
must do them in the right places. And we must do them the right way."
He promised to issue a new global plan by December 1 to address
HIV/AIDS.
"HIV/AIDS will be given a renewed emphasis as one of WHO's priority
programmes, particularly focusing on the target of providing three
million
people in developing countries with antiretroviral drugs by the end of
2005
(the "Three by Five" goal)," Dr Lee said.

Similarly, he says he will strengthen the global surveillance division
to
track down communicable diseases such as the recent SARS (Serious Acute
Respiratory Syndrome) that hit Asian countries particularly hard.

In response to a question on whether he would choose the practice of
declaring travel bans on countries that face serious communicable
diseases
such as SARS, Dr Lee said he would not wait for "one second" to impose
such
a ban if required.

Dr Lee concedes that there have been failings in accomplishing the
public
health goals set out in the Alma Mata declaration some 25 years ago:
"Health
for all by 2000."

He says there is urgent need to revisit the declaration all over again.
Similarly, he agrees that trade-related intellectual property right
provisions of the World Trade Organization should not come in the way
of
addressing public health problems.

And he also disagrees sharply with the criticism levied on the private
sector for not engaging seriously in the health sector, and asserts
that if
proper partnerships are designed with the private sector they can
deliver
results.
He argues that there is room for an active role for pharmaceutical
companies
in the public health projects.

Dr Lee will be assisted by 11 health experts largely drawn from rich
countries to deliver results in the ambitious agenda that he set out
for
himself for the next five years.

They include Denis Aitken from the United Kingdom, Jack Chow from the
United
States to look after HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, Tim Evans from Canada
for
information policy, Catherine Le Gales-Camus from France to look after
noncommunicable diseases and mental health, Kerstin Leitner from
Germany for
sustainable development and healthy environments, Anders Nordstrom from
Sweden for general management, and Vladimir Lepakhin from Russia for
technology and pharmaceuticals.

Only four health experts from developing countries - Anarfi Asamoa-Baah
from
Ghana, Kazem Behbehani from Kuwait, Liu Peilong from China, and Joy
Phumaphi
from Botswana - are included in Dr Lee's cabinet.

But several developing countries expressed utter amazement over Dr
Lee's
selection of public health experts in his cabinet from rich countries
that
are not the epicentre for disease-burden, particularly HIV/AIDS, TB,
and
malaria.

Message forwarded by:
Dr.Unnikrishnan PV, India : E-mail: unnikru at yahoo.com