Since what happens in WHO has an impact on the global health system, it is worth noting that three of WHO six Regions are electing Regional Directors at their Regional Committees this year, to take office from January 2024: the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), South-East Asian Region (SEAR) and Western Pacific Region (WPR).
The EMR and SEAR positions are becoming vacant as a result of expiry of term of office, while the WPR position has become vacant after the incumbent regional director was fired for a series of offences. The Regional Directors of Africa, the Americas, and Europe are continuing unchanged.
Here are the candidates for the three positions:
Eastern Mediterranean
Dr Najim Abbas Jabir Al-Awwadi, proposed by Iraq
Dr Hanan H. Balkhy, proposed by Saudi Arabia
Dr Anass Doukkali, proposed by Morocco
Dr Abdul Ghaffar, proposed by Pakistan
Dr Ali Akbari Sari, proposed by Iran
Dr Ahmed Farah Shadoul, proposed by Sudan
Western Pacific
Dr Song Li, proposed by China
Dr Susan Mercado, proposed by the Philippines
Dr Jimmie Rodgers, proposed by Solomon Islands
Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala, proposed by Tonga
Dr Tran Thi Giang Huong, proposed by Viet Nam
South-East Asia
Ms Saima Wazed, proposed by Bangladesh
Dr Shambhu Prasad Acharya, proposed by Nepal
Biographies and further details regarding the elections are available on the regional WHO websites.
Chris Zielinski
Centre for Global Health, University of Winchester, UK and
Vice President, World Association of Medical Editors (WAME)
Blogs; http://ziggytheblue.wordpress.com and http://ziggytheblue.tumblr.com
Publications: http://www.researchgate.net and https://winchester.academia.edu/ChrisZielinski/
HIFA profile: Chris Zielinski: As a Visiting Fellow and Lecturer at the Centre for Global Health, University of Winchester, Chris leads the Partnerships in Health Information (Phi) programme, which supports knowledge development and brokers healthcare information exchanges of all kinds. He is the elected Vice President (and President-in-Waiting) of the World Association of Medical Editors. Chris has held senior positions in publishing and knowledge management with WHO in Brazzaville, Geneva, Cairo and New Delhi, with FAO in Rome, ILO in Geneva, and UNIDO in Vienna. He served on WHO's Ethical Review Committee, and was an originator of the African Health Observatory. He also spent three years in London as Chief Executive of the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society. Chris has been a director of the UK Copyright Licensing Agency, Educational Recording Agency, and International Association of Audiovisual Writers and Directors. He has served on the boards of several NGOs and ethics groupings (information and computer ethics and bioethics). chris AT chriszielinski.com. His publications are at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chris-Zielinski and https://winchester.academia.edu/ChrisZielinski/ and his blogs are http://ziggytheblue.wordrpress.com and https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ziggytheblue
