Letter to the Executive Board of the WHO

This letter was sent to each member of the WHO´s executive board.

This letter was sent to each member of the WHO´s executive board.

To: The Executive Board
World Health Organization (WHO)

Dear Executive Board member,

Selecting the next leader of the World Health Organisation

The People’s Health Movement, together with a range of other civil society organisations, wants the next Director General (DG) of the World Health Organisation to be the best person to help secure the health of people around the world, especially those who are poor and disempowered.

Next Monday to Wednesday (November 6th - 8th), you will be charged with the enormous responsibility of selecting the best person from an initial shortlist of 12 candidates - a selection that could make a difference to the lives of hundreds of millions of people.
We have already described the key challenges that would face the next DG in a Lancet article published on October 23rd (which can be downloaded from the Lancet website http://www.thelancet.com/collections/who) The challenges indicate that s/he will have to be multi-skilled, courageous, wise and managerially competent.

In the absence of any publicly available criteria to guide the selection of the DG, we are asking you to apply the following ten criteria to judge the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate.

1. Strong vision and commitment towards equity, social justice and human rights.

2. An understanding of the principles and public health logic of the Alma Ata Declaration and comprehensive primary health care, and a commitment to manage WHO on the basis of these principles, especially given the current trend towards selective and vertical health care.

3. Ability to establish WHO as the acknowledged leader of global advocacy for the attainment of universal rights to essential health care.

4. Skills to develop coherent health systems that strengthen an agenda based on the principles of equity, integration, inclusiveness and public service ethics.

5. An absence of any conflicts of interest with regard to the corporate sector particularly with regards to the pharmaceutical, tobacco and food / beverage sectors.

6. Courage and readiness to stand up to the inappropriate influence of the major donor countries.

7. Commitment to strengthening civil society involvement, especially grassroots organizations, within the WHO, particularly from developing countries.

8. Willingness and courage to support initiatives (such as the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health) to tackle the social, political and economic determinants of health at both the global and national levels, and prevent negative health effects of policies determined through and by the WTO, the World Bank, the IMF and the G8.

9. Ability to energise, support and strengthen the weaker regional offices of the WHO, in particular, AFRO.

10. Commitment to fair labour practices, the advancement of committed and technically competent staff and a more multi-disciplinary staff composition reflecting all regions of the world within the WHO.

If the DG you appoint demonstrates most of these characteristics, we believe that you will have done your job well.

Hundreds of millions of people across the world are hoping that you will bring wisdom, courage and compassion to your decision.

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Hani Serag,

on behalf of the Peoples Health Movement