Geneva, 12. October: The election of a new World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General will take place in Geneva from 6-9 November. There will be two separate meetings in two separate venues, WHO reports Thursday.
The WHO Executive Board (EB) will meet from 6 to 8 November at WHO Headquarters and will nominate a person for the post of Director-General.
Journalists will be able to listen to proceedings during the public sessions, which include the short opening session on the morning of 6 November, the late-afternoon session on 6 November when the short-list is announced, and the closing session on 8 November when the name of the person nominated for the post will be made public.
Otherwise, the EB will conduct proceedings related to the nomination in a session which is open only to Members of the Board and one representative for each Member State. Journalists will not be allowed in the Executive Board room during these sessions.
On 9 November 2006, the World Health Assembly will meet at the United Nations Palais des Nations Assembly Hall in Geneva for a special session. The Health Assembly will consider the nomination of the Director-General at a private meeting and shall come to a decision through a secret ballot.
Journalists will be able to follow the public sessions from the media gallery. These include the opening of the session in the morning and the closing of the meeting when the successful candidate will be publicly announced and will make a speech.
The Chairman of the WHO Executive Board, Dr Fernando Antezana Araníbar, has advised WHOs 192 Member States of the list of names of the persons who have been proposed (heraf 2 nordiske, red.).
These are:
Dr Kazem Behbehani (proposed by Kuwait)
Dr Margaret Chan (proposed by China)
Dr Julio Frenk (proposed by Mexico)
Mr David A. Gunnarsson (proposed by ICELAND)
Dr Nay Htun (proposed by Myanmar/Burma)
Dr Karam Karam (proposed by Syrian Arab Republic)
Dr Bernard Kouchner (proposed by France)
Dr Pascoal Manuel Mocumbi (proposed by Mozambique)
Dr Shigeru Omi (proposed by Japan)
Dr Alfredo Palacio González (proposed by Ecuador)
Professor Pekka Puska (proposed by FINLAND)
Ms Elena Salgado Méndez (proposed by Spain)
Professor Dr Tomris Türmen (proposed by Turkey)
2 skandinaver har været generaldirektør for WHO: Danskeren Halfdan Mahler og Norges tidl. statsminister, Gro Harlem Brundtland.
Present Acting Director-General of the WHO is the Swedish national, Dr Anders Nordström. He was appointed by the WHO Executive Board, following the sudden death of Dr LEE Jong-wook, Director-General, on 22 May 2006.
Before being appointed Acting Director-General, Dr Nordström had been WHO Assistant Director-General for General Management since 21 July, 2003.
Prior to joining WHO, he was heavily engaged in the global health policy dialogue with a special focus on health systems and human resource issues.
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