AFRO-NETS> First Ever Debate Between WHO Director General Candidates

[Ms Nance Upham <g_upham@club-internet.fr>]

First Ever Debate Between WHO Director General Candidates
---------------------------------------------------------

Sunday 19th January 2003
15:00 ­ 17:00 Geneva Time

Venue: 
Geneva International Conference Centre, CICG
15 rue de Varembé
1211 Geneva, Switzerland

with global teleconference links including Brazil, Ethiopia, India, 
Japan, United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa, and the USA.

Candidates for the top post in world health ­ the Director General of 
the World Health Organisation (WHO) - will participate in a two hour 
world-wide question and answer session open to the public and linked 
across the world via video and teleconferencing.

This is a unique opportunity for health ministers, non-governmental 
organizations, and other leaders in the healthcare sector to ask can-
didates to address publicly the most critical issues in global health 
today.

The nine candidates for the position, in alphabetical order, include: 
(1) Awa Marie Coll-Seck, Health Minister of Senegal. She is a medical
    professor and former policy director at UNAIDS; 
(2) Djamil Fareed, an internationally acclaimed heart specialist from
    Mauritius and advisor to his country?s Minster of Health. 
(3) Julio Frenk, Health Minister of Mexico and a public health ex-
    pert. He was centrally involved in developing a tool for measure-
    ing the global burden of disease. 
(4) Karam Karam a former Health Minister of Lebanon. 
(5) Jong Wook Lee, a doctor from South Korea, head of WHO?s programme
    to stop tuberculosis. 
(6) Pascoal Manuel Mocumbi, Prime Minister of Mozambique and formerly
    his country?s Minister of Health. 
(7) Peter Piot head of UNAIDS, a Belgian epidemiologist and microbi-
    ologist who originally made his name as one of the doctors who
    helped isolate the Ebola virus. 
(8) Ismail Sallam, a professor of cardiac surgery who was until re-
    cently Egypt?s Minster of Health and Population. 
(9) Joseph Williams is a medical doctor and parliamentarian and for-
    merly was Prime Minister of the Cook Islands.

Candidates will answer questions from participants located in Geneva 
and from other locations around the world. The event will be broad-
cast globally via the WorldSpace satellite system. WorldSpace offers 
a unique technology which makes available digital audio, data and 
multimedia throughout Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the 
Pacific, and even to remote areas of the world with no internet ac-
cess, expensive satellite equipment or telecommunications infrastruc-
ture. The event will also be broadcast via the internet, television 
and ISDN networks.

The WHO Executive Board meets the week following the debate. The 
Board will nominate a single candidate for approval by vote of all 
the WHO?s 192 member states at its assembly in May 2003.

The organising NGO?s include the People?s Health Movement, the NGO 
Forum for Health, the Interactive Health Network?s World Health Chan-
nel and Exchange. Commercial sponsors include World Space and Direct 
Visual. Supporting NGO?s include the International eHealth Associa-
tion, Canal Saude, Brazil?s health channel, The Academy of Interna-
tional Health Philanthropy, the Global Health Council and the Inter-
national Hospital Federation.

For more information please contact: 
Dr. Harry McConnell 
mailto:harry@ihn.info

To register for this event, please 
mailto:events@ihn.info

The Interactive Health Network is a non-profit organization using 
online technology to combat health inequities. It focuses on seeking 
to make medical information, training and support available to health 
care workers in developing countries and is supported by the UK De-
partment for International Development (DFID). See:
http://www.ihn.info 
or 
mailto:brigid@ihn.info

Exchange works to improve the health and quality of life of poor peo-
ple by encouraging the exchange of relevant knowledge, information 
and experience. The Exchange programme is hosted by Healthlink World-
wide and supported by the UK Department for International Development 
(DFID).

The International eHealth Association is a non-profit organization 
promoting the use of technology in healthcare to improve patient care 
globally. It is a professional society offering educational events 
and a peer reviewed journal on critical issues in healthcare technol-
ogy. For more information, see 
http://www.ieha.info
and 
http://www.ehealthinternational.org

In Geneva: 
The NGO Forum for Health is a network of multisectoral NGOs committed 
to promoting equity and justice in health care and wish to establish 
partnership with others in making health a reality for millions 
around the world. The President is Dr Manoj Kurian, head of Health 
Division, World Council of Churches mailto:mku@wcc-coe.org

Le People?s Health Movement- Geneva International is the Swiss plat-
form of support for the People?s Health Movement which was launched 
in 2000 in Bangladesh with the participation of 120 NGOs from 96 
countries, on the principles of Alma Ata, "Health for All". The PHM 
is participating in the preparation for the 25th anniversary of Alma 
Ata, during the World Health Assembly, in May 2003. 
http://www.phmovement.org 
The president of the PHM-GI is 
Ms Nance Upham
mailto:g_upham@club-internet.fr

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