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BMJ No 7128 Volume 316
News Saturday 31 January 1998
Gro Harlem Brundtland wins WHO election
| Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former prime minister of Norway, has won the
nomination for the post of director general of the World Health
Organisation.
The nomination of someone from outside the WHO is likely to be welcomed by
those who would like to see reform. In recent weeks the WHO has been rocked
by accusations that one contender, Dr Fernando Antezana, the current deputy
director general, had lied about his qualifications (24 January, p 249). The nomination of Dr Brundtland was made by the 32 members of WHO's executive board earlier this week and will be ratified in May by the WHO's governing body, the World Health Assembly, on which all 191 member states have a vote. The board's nominee has never yet been turned down by the assembly. |  | |
| Dr Brundtland polled 18 votes |
Delegates said voting on the five shortlisted candidates went to four rounds. At the first round Uton Muchtar Rafei and Ebrahim Samba had tied with the lowest number of votes so noone was eliminated, in the second and third rounds Dr Samba and then Nafis Sadik were eliminated. At the fourth round Dr Brundtland polled 18 votes, George Alleyne 10 votes, and Dr Uton four votes.
The executive board is mainly made up of senior health ministers. Of the major donors, Japan, Norway, and Britain currently have a presence on the executive board but the United States does not. Kenneth Calman, Britain's chief medical officer and a member of the executive board said: "I am delighted that someone of Dr Brundtland's quality and experience has been nominated and the fact that she is a women is also terribly important." Dr Calman, who may be the next chairman of the executive board, was also pleased with the process of the elections. "It was a very clear, above board procedure on this occasion. This is a sign that things have already changed at the WHO."
Dr Brundtland has held a number of international positions. She chaired the World Commission on Environment and Development, which made recommendations leading to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
Jacqui Wise, BMJ
Previous stories
BMJ No 7124 Volume 316 News Saturday 3 January 1998WHO Special Report
WHO leadership race reaches final stages
Later this month, one of seven candidates will be nominated as the World Health Organisation's next director general. Fiona Godlee assesses the competition
After 10 years of declining international prestige and a slump in staff morale, the WHO has an opportunity to recast itself. Now in its 50th year, the organisation is in financial straights, uncertain about its place in the world, and, as the year 2000 approaches, hard pushed to rearticulate its distant promise of "Health for All." The BMJ invited the seven candidates to respond to questions about the future of the WHO.
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