The World Health Assembly on Wednesday appointed Dr Margaret Chan for a second five-year term as Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO).
In her acceptance speech in Geneva to health ministers and representatives of WHO's Member States, Dr Chan pledged her continued commitment to improve the health of the most vulnerable, namely women and the people of Africa.
She said her "overarching commitment to improve the health of women and the people of Africa will continue, sharpened by recent experiences," as she pursues other priorities, such as enhancing health systems and combating non-communicable diseases.
"I will be fully supporting Every Woman, Every Child as well as a growing number of initiatives to improve health in Africa. As part of my commitment to women, I will be giving more emphasis to the prevention of domestic violence," said Chan. Every Woman, Every Child is an initiative of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in support of efforts to achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Chan identified her other priorities as mental health and disabilities; health security; health development for poverty reduction; access to medical products, and improving WHO performance through reform.
She also underlined the importance of universal health coverage, describing it as the single most powerful concept in public health.
"Universal coverage is the hallmark of a government's commitment, its duty, to take care of its citizens, all of its citizens," said Chan. "Universal coverage is the umbrella concept that demands solutions to the biggest problems facing health systems."
She cited the following as some of the problems faced by health systems: soaring costs amid poor access to essential medicines, especially affordable generic products; an emphasis on cures that does not take prevention into consideration; costly private care for the privileged few, but poor services for everyone else; grossly inadequate numbers of staff; weak or inappropriate information systems; and weak regulatory control and schemes for financing that are punitive for the poor.
"The future of funding for international health development is uncertain," said Dr Chan. She warned that "If we let down our guard, slacken our efforts, problems that are so close to being brought under control will come roaring back."
A citizen of China, Dr Chan was first appointed WHO Director-General in November 2006. Her second five-year term will begin on July 1.
The Director-General is WHO's chief technical and administrative officer and oversees the policy for the Organization's international health work.
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