中国禽流感专家获WHO总干事提名
Disease Expert From China Is Nominated as WHO Director
The World Health Organization nominated Chinese infectious-diseases expert Margaret Chan to lead the United Nations health agency, underscoring China's rising prominence and mounting pressure on the Chinese government to improve its cooperation on global health crises such as avian flu.
The landslide victory by Dr. Chan, 59 years old, over four other finalists in voting by WHO's 34-country executive board essentially assures her of a 5?-year term as the next director-general of the agency, one of the most important leadership positions in public health. The nomination faces a vote today by the full WHO governing body; no one proposed by the executive board has ever been rejected for the top job.
China campaigned hard for Dr. Chan. The push, led by Vice Premier Wu Yi and President Hu Jintao, was unusual because the five permanent-member countries of the U.N.'s Security Council, which includes China, traditionally haven't backed candidates to lead WHO. Sha Zukang, China's ambassador to Switzerland, said Dr. Chan's selection is a landmark for China. "We know there are great responsibilities and high expectations," he said.
While it isn't clear exactly what swayed 24 of 34 countries to support Dr. Chan in four rapid rounds of voting in a closed-door meeting in Geneva, she is known for having a combination of scientific skill, on-the-ground experience and political dexterity that will be needed to navigate challenges such as halting the spread of pandemic flu.
China has been criticized for failing to disclose cases of avian flu and severe acute respiratory syndrome, and for not sharing virus samples that could speed research and vaccine development. The Chinese government has been more forthcoming recently, and its staunch support of Dr. Chan's candidacy suggests officials are willing to make further changes.
"This is a moment of personal honor and deep personal responsibility," Dr. Chan said in a brief speech yesterday. "I do not take this lightly." She insisted during her campaign that she wouldn't bend to Chinese political interests.
A top official at China's Ministry of Health said yesterday that government officials "try our best to cooperate with the international community."
When asked whether China would try to influence Dr. Chan, a former schoolteacher who got a medical degree from the University of Western Ontario in Canada, the official responded: "No one from China will say we will sacrifice ourselves to meet the expectations of other parties...If the WHO, when they are dealing with the relations with China...don't take into consideration the Chinese people, there will be a problem."
The U.S. is one of the countries believed to have voted for Dr. Chan, who emerged as the heavy favorite in five rounds of voting Monday that narrowed the field to five finalists.
Mike Leavitt, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and leader of the U.S. delegation in Geneva, said he is "confident she will ensure WHO's role as the premier global health agency, guided by scientific excellence and well-prepared to meet the many challenges it faces."
As Hong Kong's top health official, Dr. Chan showed the mettle to make controversial decisions, including culling 1.5 million poultry feared to be spreading the H5N1 avian-flu virus to humans in 1997. The move exacted a brutal economic toll on farmers but helped stamp out the world's first outbreak of the virus. That strategy now is the standard approach to controlling avian flu.
In yesterday's final round of voting, Dr. Chan beat out Julio Frenk, Mexico's health minister.
Dr. Chan will succeed Lee Jong Wook of South Korea, who died in May of a stroke, as director-general.
中国禽流感专家获WHO总干事提名
世界卫生组织(WHO)提名中国的传染病专家陈冯富珍(Margaret Chan)为该组织总干事，此举表明全球各国正日益重视阻止流感和其他致命性病毒传播的工作。
59岁的陈冯富珍周三获得WHO执行委员会的提名，这既印证了中国在全球政治和卫生事务方面日益增大的影响力，也表明WHO希望以此来推动中国更及时地披露公共健康方面的信息。中国曾被批评说，在禽流感和非典型肺炎(SARS)疫情蔓延到香港和境外之前，中国未能及时将相关病例通报给WHO。
虽然WHO的官员们说，他们近来敦促中国更公开地追踪和报告传染病病例的行动已经取得了积极效果，但对陈冯富珍的提名表明，许多国家希望WHO在这方面能够更加积极主动。
陈冯富珍在获得提名后发表的简短讲话中说：“这是一个个人荣誉和重大的个人责任一齐到来的时刻。”她在竞选WHO总干事一职时保证说，自己不会偏向中国的利益。
WHO的全权机构世界卫生大会(World Health Assembly)周四将投票决定是否同意陈冯富珍担任WHO下一任总干事。世界卫生大会由WHO的192个成员国派代表组成。这一投票只不过是走走形式，因为由WHO执委会提名的总干事人选还从未被世界卫生大会驳回过。陈冯富珍将从明年1月4日起就任WHO总干事一职，她的五年半任期将于2012年6月30日到期。
作为WHO目前负责传染病事务的最高官员，她是首位被中国提名出任WHO总干事的人选。中国明确支持她担任此职显得不同寻常，因为联合国安理会五大常任理事国通常并不明确表示支持哪位总干事候选人，不过也没有规定禁止它们这么做。
陈冯富珍获得提名标志着WHO执委会三天闭门会议的结束，会议期间执委会成员们于周二听取了五位最终候选人的陈述。周三公布的执委会投票结果显示，陈冯富珍在最后一轮投票中轻松击败了墨西哥卫生部长裘利奥?弗兰克(Julio Frenk)，她赢得了执委会34张选票中的24张。
在周一进行的最初几轮投票后，陈冯富珍就已被认为是获得最终提名的热门人选，她周二在接受执委会成员面试时发表了激动人心的讲话。虽然尚不清楚究竟是哪些因素使她最终获得了胜利，但她曾在防治SARS和禽流感第一线工作的经历使她在公共健康事务方面更对许多国家的胃口，其中也包括美国。美国官员一直在强调预防流感爆发的重要性。
美国卫生和公共事务部部长迈克?李维特(Mike Leavitt)在一份声明中说，他“相信”陈冯富珍“将确保WHO承担起其世界首要卫生机构的职责”，因为她既有科学素养，又对WHO面临的许多挑战有充分准备。
陈冯富珍在讲话中保证说，将会继续WHO前总干事李钟郁(Lee Jong Wook)未竟的事业，这位韩国籍总干事今年5月死于中风。曾担任香港卫生署署长的陈冯富珍2003年起一直就职于WHO，她承诺将推动全面开展艾滋病的治疗和预防工作。除了流感预防工作外，陈冯富珍在讲话中还承诺支持一系列其他公共健康工作的开展，如根除脊髓灰质炎以及执行WHO的烟草控制框架公约(Framework Convention on Tobacco Control)等。
中国常驻联合国日内瓦代表团大使沙祖康称陈冯富珍胜出对中国具有里程碑意义，但他同时表示陈冯富珍责任重大，人们对她期望很高。“陈冯富珍在竞选过程中接受采访时曾说，她将捍卫人们的公共健康利益，并说“我不会特别优待中国”。
中国卫生部的一位高级官员强调说，自SARS疫情爆发以来中国已经取得了长足的进步。这位官员周三说，在卫生部工作的官员大都思想开明，他们愿意配合WHO等国际组织的工作。
当被问到中国政府是否试图影响陈冯富珍时，中国的这位卫生官员回答说：“就WHO而言，如果它在处理对华关系时不考虑中国人民的利益，那将会有问题。”
WHO的官员们表示，中国近几个月来在健康信息披露方面已经持更公开的态度。但WHO驻北京的一位官员则称中国政府上周未能与WHO共享一些病毒样本。
陈冯富珍在抗击禽流感和SARS疫情方面取得的成功使她在香港成了一位名人。曾担任教师的她在1997年做出的一项决定曾引起争议，为了使世界上首次被发现的H5N1禽流感病毒不致扩散，她下令屠宰了150万只家禽，以免这一病毒传染给人类。
虽然这种做法会给家禽饲养者造成严重的经济损失，但自那以来它已成了控制H5N1病毒传播的标准做法。作为首批了解H5N1病毒将带来严重后果的公共卫生官员之一，陈冯富珍在H5N1禽流感疫情出现伊始就邀请美国疾病控制与预防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)一道参与疫情的调查与追踪工作。
陈冯富珍2003年在领导香港卫生署阻止SARS疫情蔓延时再度展示了她的危机管理技巧。尽管后来有人批评她没有敦促中国官员尽早公布广东省的SARS疫情，但负责调查香港SARS防治工作的一个委员会却对陈冯富珍的总体工作表现给予了赞扬。
Betsy McKay
