-Mahesh Devnani
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced names of 3 finalists for the next Director General - Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia, Dr. Sania Nishtar of Pakistan, and Dr. David Nabarro of Britain - to replace Dr. Margaret Chan, whose second five year term ends June 30, 2017. Contenders who couldn’t make it to the final three were Dr. Flavia Bustreo of Italy who is presently a WHO assistant director-general, and France’s Dr. Philippe Douste-Blazy. Final names were decided based on votes casted by 34 members of WHO executive board which interviewed all the candidates. Next, the member states will vote during the 70th World Health Assembly to be held from 22 to 31 May 2017 to elect a new Director-General who will take office starting July 1, 2017.
Tedros - a former health, and foreign affairs minister from Ethiopia - is the only non-physician among the three candidates. He has served as the Chair, Global Fund to fights AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Board, and Roll Back Malaria Partnership Board. He is member of Ethiopia’s powerful political party TPLF which has been accused of widespread human rights abuses and corruption. As per reports Tedros received the maximum votes and has advantage of being endorsed by the African Union having 54 member states. If elected he would be the first WHO-DG from Africa in the organization’s nearly 70 years history. Since its inception WHO-DGs have come from Canada, Brazil, Denmark, Japan, Norway, Republic of Korea, and Sweden (acting). The incumbent DG is from Hong Kong.
Nabarro -a medical doctor- is a well-known international public health expert and is currently the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Climate Change. He was special envoy of the UN Secretary-General on Ebola during 2014-15 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Notably, experts have criticized WHO and its leadership for ‘slow' response during Ebola outbreak. Nabarro has the advantage of being a long time insider in UN system having support of many developed nations.
Nishtar – a cardiologist and former federal health minister of Pakistan – is a leading figure in global health policy. Until recently she was Chair of Independent Accountability Panel for the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health appointed by the UN Secretary-General, the position she stepped down after announcement of her candidacy. An author and a thought leader, she is a combination of high-level experience in government, civil society and in multilateral institutions. In fact she is the most versatile candidate among the three.
Keeping in view that all three are strong candidates, who should India vote for and why? Although India and Pakistan share a common heritage, the relationships between the two have always been complicated. However, the health systems of the two and challenges thereof are similar: insufficient public spending on healthcare, huge out of pocket expenditure, rising non-communicable diseases, periodic outbreaks of communicable diseases, multidrug resistant TB, maternal and child health issues, poor health indicators etc. Among the three candidates, Nishtar has better understanding of health challenges of the subcontinent and vast experience in dealing with these issue. Her skills and experience in health policy, research, and advocacy would be beneficial in improving healthcare in subcontinent.
In addition to a healthcare leader and global health expert, Nishtar has been a strong supporter of improving relationship between India and Pakistan and an advocate to foster Indo-Pak peace through bilateral collaboration in the field of healthcare. She is the chair of the health committee of the bilateral India-Pakistan peace initiative, Aman Ki Asha, a bilateral non-governmental campaign that advocates peace between India and Pakistan. She has been working with Indian partners to create an enabling environment for peace and reconciliation by encouraging people-to-people interaction.
If elected she will be the first South Asian to occupy the prestigious office. This is a historic opportunity for Indian sub-continent and Indian diplomacy. By supporting her, India can play a crucial role in getting her elected as WHO DG. India has nothing to lose by supporting Sania Nishtar, instead it can gain the goodwill of people of Pakistan and a friend at the helm of WHO who better understands health issues of Indian subcontinent and can play a role not only in improving healthcare of the sub-continent but also the relationships between the two nations.
Best wishes to Sania Nishtar.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced names of 3 finalists for the next Director General - Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia, Dr. Sania Nishtar of Pakistan, and Dr. David Nabarro of Britain - to replace Dr. Margaret Chan, whose second five year term ends June 30, 2017. Contenders who couldn’t make it to the final three were Dr. Flavia Bustreo of Italy who is presently a WHO assistant director-general, and France’s Dr. Philippe Douste-Blazy. Final names were decided based on votes casted by 34 members of WHO executive board which interviewed all the candidates. Next, the member states will vote during the 70th World Health Assembly to be held from 22 to 31 May 2017 to elect a new Director-General who will take office starting July 1, 2017.
Tedros - a former health, and foreign affairs minister from Ethiopia - is the only non-physician among the three candidates. He has served as the Chair, Global Fund to fights AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Board, and Roll Back Malaria Partnership Board. He is member of Ethiopia’s powerful political party TPLF which has been accused of widespread human rights abuses and corruption. As per reports Tedros received the maximum votes and has advantage of being endorsed by the African Union having 54 member states. If elected he would be the first WHO-DG from Africa in the organization’s nearly 70 years history. Since its inception WHO-DGs have come from Canada, Brazil, Denmark, Japan, Norway, Republic of Korea, and Sweden (acting). The incumbent DG is from Hong Kong.
Nabarro -a medical doctor- is a well-known international public health expert and is currently the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Climate Change. He was special envoy of the UN Secretary-General on Ebola during 2014-15 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Notably, experts have criticized WHO and its leadership for ‘slow' response during Ebola outbreak. Nabarro has the advantage of being a long time insider in UN system having support of many developed nations.
Nishtar – a cardiologist and former federal health minister of Pakistan – is a leading figure in global health policy. Until recently she was Chair of Independent Accountability Panel for the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health appointed by the UN Secretary-General, the position she stepped down after announcement of her candidacy. An author and a thought leader, she is a combination of high-level experience in government, civil society and in multilateral institutions. In fact she is the most versatile candidate among the three.
Keeping in view that all three are strong candidates, who should India vote for and why? Although India and Pakistan share a common heritage, the relationships between the two have always been complicated. However, the health systems of the two and challenges thereof are similar: insufficient public spending on healthcare, huge out of pocket expenditure, rising non-communicable diseases, periodic outbreaks of communicable diseases, multidrug resistant TB, maternal and child health issues, poor health indicators etc. Among the three candidates, Nishtar has better understanding of health challenges of the subcontinent and vast experience in dealing with these issue. Her skills and experience in health policy, research, and advocacy would be beneficial in improving healthcare in subcontinent.
In addition to a healthcare leader and global health expert, Nishtar has been a strong supporter of improving relationship between India and Pakistan and an advocate to foster Indo-Pak peace through bilateral collaboration in the field of healthcare. She is the chair of the health committee of the bilateral India-Pakistan peace initiative, Aman Ki Asha, a bilateral non-governmental campaign that advocates peace between India and Pakistan. She has been working with Indian partners to create an enabling environment for peace and reconciliation by encouraging people-to-people interaction.
If elected she will be the first South Asian to occupy the prestigious office. This is a historic opportunity for Indian sub-continent and Indian diplomacy. By supporting her, India can play a crucial role in getting her elected as WHO DG. India has nothing to lose by supporting Sania Nishtar, instead it can gain the goodwill of people of Pakistan and a friend at the helm of WHO who better understands health issues of Indian subcontinent and can play a role not only in improving healthcare of the sub-continent but also the relationships between the two nations.
Best wishes to Sania Nishtar.
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