Taking a stand

The World Health Organization has had good and bad leaders. Dr Lee Jong-wook, who died last week just three years into his first term as WHO's director general, was one of the better ones (p 1234). He died just before the opening session of WHO's annual assembly and only days after the successful resolution of a cause he had championed—the registration of clinical trials (p 1232). His support, both moral and financial, for trial registration showed his willingness to resist pressure from powerful industry lobbies. Because of this, WHO's stance on trial registration should take its place alongside the organisation's earlier triumphs, …