Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun (Chinese: 陳馮富珍/陈冯富珍; born 1947 in Hong Kong) was Director-General of the World Health Organization from 2006 to 2017 (in May 2012 she was elected for a second term until June 30, 2017). She was the first Chinese woman to head a UN specialized agency.
Biografie
Margaret Chan completed her medical studies at the Canadian University of Western Ontario. After returning to Hong Kong, she joined the health department of the then British Crown Colony in 1978. From 1994 to 2003, she was Director of Health in the Hong Kong government. In this role, she was also responsible for combating the H5N1 avian flu (1997) and SARS in 2003, the outbreak of which claimed nearly 300 lives in Hong Kong. She was criticized by the public and parliament for her hesitant stance in combating SARS.[2] On the other hand, a commission of experts appointed by the government concluded that she could not be held responsible for the mismanagement.
That same year, she left her post to accept a position at the WHO as Director of the Department for the Protection of the Human Environment. In 2005, she became Director of the WHO Department of Communicable Disease Surveillance and Control and Deputy to the Director-General for Pandemic Influenza.
She was heavily criticized for her agreement to classify the 2009/10 swine flu, caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus, as a pandemic, as the criteria for a pandemic were lowered for that virus.[4] Members of the Council of Europe also criticized Chan, most notably the German physician and politician Wolfgang Wodarg (SPD), a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.[5] The WHO rejected the accusations of hasty action.