A time to ask what you want of WHO

doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7406.111

BMJ 2003;327:111 (12 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7406.111

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PERSONAL VIEW

A time to ask what you want of WHO

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Five years ago Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland took over a largelydemoralised World Health Organization from Hiroshi Nakajimaand initiated a reform to give WHO new relevance to currentpublic health needs. Technical staff warmly welcomed the strongemphasis she placed on evidence based advocacy, openness andtransparency, and unity within the organisation.

Last year it became clear that Dr Brundtland would not seeka second term and on 21 July Jong-Wook Lee will succeed heras director general. However, Dr Lee is not inheriting a reinvigoratedorganisation or one that is close to achieving the three overarchingprinciples instigated by the Brundtland reform.

Dr Brundtland did succeed in getting health recognised as anissue on the global political agenda and in drawing attentionto the economically debilitating effects of ill health. However,this gain may have been achieved at the expense of other priorities.

Many of the public health . . . [Full text of this article]

Keith Baverstock, docent

department of environmental sciences, University of Kuopio, Finland 106305.2424@compuserve.com