Five candidates in final race for WHO top post

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday agreed on a final list of five candidates for the top post of the UN agency.

Among the five candidates are Margaret Chan from China, Shigeru Omi from Japan, Julio Frenck from Mexico, Kazem Behbehani from Kuwait and Elena Salgado Mendez from Spain.

The five candidates were selected by the WHO Executive Board from an original list of 11 candidates, who were recommended by WHO member countries after the unexpected death of former Director- General Lee Jong Wook in May.

The 34-nation Executive Board, which opened a meeting for the elections on Monday, decided on the short list of candidates through secret ballots.

The five selected candidates will be interviewed by the board on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday, a final single nominee will be elected by the Board members.

The nominee still needs to be approved by a special meeting of the World Health Assembly, which will be held on Thursday and participated by all 143 member states of the body.

The WHO is the UN's specialized agency for health. It was established on in 1948 with an objective of helping all peoples attain the highest possible level of health.

The agency is attracting more and more attention in recent years because of its leading role in the global struggle against challenges such as a threatened flu pandemic, AIDS, medically- resistant diseases or rising chronic illness and dilapidated health care in poor countries.

Source: Xinhua