Margaret Chan
Margaret Chan Tedros Adhanom | |
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4th Director of Health, Hong Kong | |
In office 6 June 1994 – 20 August 2003 | |
Preceded by | Lee Shu-Hung |
Succeeded by | Lam Ping-Yan |
Personal details | |
Born | Margaret Fung Fu-chun 21 August 1947 Hong Kong |
Nationality | Chinese Canadian[1] |
Spouse | David Chan[2] |
Alma mater | Northecote College of Education (Cert) University of Western Ontario (BA, MD) National University of Singapore (MS) |
Margaret Chan | |
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Féng Fùzhēn | |
Yue: Cantonese | |
Jyutping | Can4 Fung4 Fu3 Zan1 |
Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun,
She was widely criticized for her handling of the 1997
Early life and education
Chan was born and raised in
Chan received a professional degree for teaching home economics at the Northecote College of Education in Hong Kong. She received a bachelor of arts with a major in home economics in 1973 and a doctor of medicine in 1977 from the University of Western Ontario in Canada. She received a master of science (public health) from the National University of Singapore in 1985.[7][8][9]
Chan completed the Program for Management Development (PMD 61) at Harvard Business School in 1991.[citation needed]
Career
Early career
Chan joined the Government of British Hong Kong in December 1978 as a medical officer. In November 1989, she was promoted to assistant director of the Department of Health. In April 1992, she was promoted to deputy director and, in June 1994, was named the first woman in Hong Kong to head the Department of Health.
Director of Health in Hong Kong, 1994–2003
Chan survived the transition from British to
Her performance during the SARS outbreak, which ultimately led to 299 deaths, attracted harsh criticism from the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and many people with SARS and their relatives.[13] She was criticised by the Legislative Council for her passiveness,[17] for believing in misleading information shared by the mainland authority, and for not acting swiftly.[18] She was also criticised for a lack of political wisdom was evident in her indifference to media reports and widespread public fear at that time.[19] On the other hand, the SARS expert committee established by the HKSAR government to assess its handling of the crisis, opined that the failure was not Chan's fault, but due to the structure of Hong Kong's health care system, in which the separation of the hospital authority from the public health authority resulted in problems with data sharing.[20]
Assistant to DGWHO
Chan left the
Director-General of WHO, 2006–2017
Chan served two terms of five years apiece as
First term
In February 2007, Chan provoked the anger of humanitarian and civil society groups including Doctors Without Borders by questioning the quality of generic medicines while on a visit to Thailand.[25]
In 2010 Chan was criticised for "crying wolf" about the
After a visit to
In 2011, because of financial constraints in donor countries the WHO slashed its budget by nearly $1 billion and cut 300 jobs at its headquarters under Chan's leadership.[30]
Second term
The WHO was accused [who?] of deferring to the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad when polio made a comeback in that country in late 2013.[31]
In 2014 and 2015, Chan was again heavily criticised because of the slow response of the WHO to the
In 2016 at the request of the WHA, Chan launched the Health Emergencies Programme.
After WHO
In 2018, Chan joined the Task Force on Fiscal Policy for Health, a group convened by
In December 2021, during the 2021 Hong Kong legislative election, Chan said, of the election where only "patriots" could serve in the government, "The new election system is going to be very good for Hong Kong, for Hong Kong's long-term development, and for Hong Kong's democracy to take a step by step approach."[36]
In August 2022, after Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, Chan said "As the No 3 figure in the US government, Pelosi visiting Taiwan on a US military plane is a gross interference in China's internal affairs, seriously undermining China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, wantonly trampling on the one-China principle, seriously threatening the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait, and seriously damaging Sino-US relations."[37]
Other activities
- Exemplars in Global Health, Member of the Senior Advisory Board (since 2020)[38]
Recognition
In 1997, Chan was given the distinction for the Fellowship of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the
In 2014, Chan was ranked as the 30th most powerful woman in the world, based on her position as Director-General, by Forbes. Her ranking increased from 33rd in 2013.[40]
Personal life
Margaret Chan is married to David Chan,
References
- ^ a b Young, Ian (28 May 2013). "From Hong Kong to Canada and back: the migrants who came home from home". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
- ^ a b c "Possible WHO head is Western grad". The London Free Press. 13 October 2006.
- ^ "Complete curriculum vitae of Dr Margaret Chan". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China. Beijing, China: People's Republic of China. 2005. Archived from the original on 30 July 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
- ^ "Director-General: Dr Margaret Chan". Archived from the original on 14 November 2006.
- ^ Howard, Caroline (28 May 2014). "The World's Most Powerful Women 2014". Forbes.
- ^ Cheng, Maria (22 May 2017). "Health agency spends more on travel than AIDS". Associated Press. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
- ^ "陈冯富珍 院长-清华大学万科公共卫生与健康学院". vsph.tsinghua.edu.cn. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
- ^ "CHAN, Margaret (née Fung Fu-chun)" (PDF). Radboud University, the Netherlands. 30 May 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
- ^ "Curriculum vìtae – Dr Margaret FD Chan BSc, MD (Canada) MSc PH (Singapore)" (PDF). World Health Organization. 19 December 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
- Asia Week. 30 January 1998.
- ^ "Zero bird flu=zero live chicken? Dissecting central slaughtering (in Chinese)". Sing Tao Daily. 6 September 2006. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2006.
- ^ "Chan wins. Lead Health department for 10 years, slaughter chicken to stop bird flu (in Chinese)". Ta Kung Pao. 9 November 2006. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2006.
- ^ a b Matthew Lee (29 July 2005). "Swine virus fears mount". The Standard. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2006.
- Asia Times Online. 9 November 2006.
- S2CID 143081579.
- ^ "Bird flu expert to lead WHO". BBC. 6 November 2006.
- ^ Matthew Lee (10 July 2004). "Legco censures Chan over SARS". The Standard. Archived from the original on 3 May 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
- ^ "Report of the Select Committee to inquire into the handling of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak by the Government and the Hospital Authority". Legislative Council of Hong Kong. July 2004.
- .
- PMID 17301294.
- ^ Dr Margaret Chan: Biography, WHO website
- ^ "Chan sets out goals for WHO". The Standard. 10 November 2006. Archived from the original on 3 May 2009. Retrieved 12 November 2006.
- ^ Dr Margaret Chan nominated for a second term to be WHO Director-General, WHO web site
- ^ a b c Dr Margaret Chan appointed to a second term as Director-General, WHO News Release, 23 May 2012
- ^ "WHO Chief's Stand on Generic Drugs Slammed". IPS. 2 February 2007. Archived from the original on 13 March 2007.
- ^ "World looks for a better doctor". POLITICO. 22 January 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
- ^ "UN health chief praises N. Korean health system as 'envy'". AFP. 30 April 2010. Archived from the original on 5 May 2010.
- ^ Jonathan Lynn (30 April 2010). "North Korea has plenty of doctors: WHO". Reuters.
- ^ "Health Care Paradise". The Wall Street Journal. 3 May 2010.
- ^ Stephanie Nebehay and Barbara Lewis (19 May 2011), WHO slashes budget, jobs in new era of austerity Reuters.
- New York Times.
- ^ Somini Sengupta (6 January 2015), "Effort on Ebola Hurt W.H.O. Chief", New York Times, retrieved 20 January 2016
- PMID 26818622
- ^ Michael R. Bloomberg and Lawrence H. Summers Create Task Force to Address Preventable Leading Causes of Death and Noncommunicable Diseases Through Fiscal Policy Bloomberg Philanthropies, press release of 18 January 2018.
- ^ Council of Advisors Boao Forum for Asia.
- ^ "EC members play down voter turnout - RTHK". news.rthk.hk. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
- ^ "Hong Kong leader vows to help safeguard nation after Pelosi visits Taiwan". South China Morning Post. 3 August 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
- ^ Senior Advisory Board Exemplars in Global Health.
- ^ "Margaret Chan Professional Experience". Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2006.
- ^ "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women". Forbes. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
- ^ Mary Ann Benitez (8 August 2006). "Husband goes too, says Margaret Chan". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
Further reading
- Dr Chan's CV Archived 24 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China)
- Health, Welfare and Food Bureau, HK Government introduction
- China's Margaret Chan says to work tirelessly for world health (People's Daily Online)
- Bird flu expert set to lead WHO (BBC News)
- WHO Board Nominates Margaret Chan As Director General (Wall Street Journal Online)
- Who's Next at WHO? (Time online's blog)