GENEVA,
Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization
(WHO) opened a special session on Thursday, during which China's Margaret Chan
will be formally approved as the organization's next director-general.
The special session of the UN agency's top
decision-making body kicked off at the Palace of Nations in Geneva, also known
as the UN headquarters in Europe.
During the afternoon session of the one-day meeting,
delegates of the 193 WHO members will vote and approve Dr. Chan's nomination as
new chief.
The WHO's 34-member governing Executive Board on
Wednesday nominated Chan as the new director-general after rounds of secret
balloting which eliminated four other candidates.
Dr. Chan needs at least two-thirds of the assembly to
formally become the new director-general. The assembly has never rejected a
candidate recommended by the Executive Board.
China's
Margaret Chan nominated as next WHO chief
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday nominated
Dr Margaret Chan, former health chief of China's Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region, as its next director-general.
The nomination came after four rounds of secret balloting
by the UN agency's 34-nation Executive Board, during which four other
heavyweight competitors were eliminated.
Chan, 59, joined the WHO in 2003 and has since been the
agency's top official for pandemic influenza, as well as the assistant
director-general for communicable diseases. full story
