Chinese candidate in pole position for WHO race

时间：2006-11-08 02:20:53

（单词翻译:单击）


Hong Kong's former health director Margaret Chan, who temporarily stood down as WHO's head of communicable diseases to campaign, won most votes in a first round of voting for the top job in global health.
 
Nov. 7 - China's candidate to head the World Health Organisation1 (WHO) took pole position on Monday after a first round of voting for the top job in global health.

 

Hong Kong's former health director Margaret Chan, who temporarily stood down as WHO's head of communicable diseases to campaign, won most votes as the executive board of the United Nations' health agency cut the field from 11 to a short-list of five, diplomats3 said.

 

As expected, she was being pressed hard by Shigeru Omi of Japan, who heads the agency's Western Pacific regional office and Mexico's Health Minister Julio Frenk.

 

The three, long considered favourites for the $218,000 a year post, were joined on the short-list by Kuwait's Kazem Behbehani, a senior WHO official, and Spain's Health Minister Elena Salgado, the only candidate who is not a trained doctor.

 

"Chan is the front-runner, you could say that she is in pole position," said one diplomat2 who had been following the voting. "But it is still a tough one to call," he added.

 

The previous incumbent4 Lee Jong-wook of South Korea, whose sudden death in May triggered the new election, won in 2003 without being among the early race favourites although he did well in the voting for the short-list.

 

After interviewing all five on Tuesday, the 34-member board will go through another series of votes to select one candidate to recommend to a special meeting of the 193-state WHO's top decision-taking body, the World Health Assembly.

 

FIRST FOR CHINA

 

If Chan wins the vote of the assembly on Thursday, it will be the first time that China has held the top job in one of the U.N.'s major agencies.

 

The international profile of the WHO, which has a two-year budget of $3.3 billion, has increased dramatically in recent years with the emergence5 of global health emergencies such as AIDS and threats from new diseases such as SARS and bird flu.

 

Besides helping6 prepare for a possible bird flu pandemic, the head of the WHO, who can serve for two five-year terms, must confront tricky7 political issues.

 

These include how to balance better access to medicines for poor countries with the drugs' patent protection that big pharmaceuticals8 companies demand.

 

"I suppose we think that it will come down to Mexico, China and Japan," said a diplomat whose country sits on the board. "Mexico could be stronger than some people think," he added.

 

All three have weaknesses as well as strengths.

 

Some diplomats expressed surprise that former Mozambique Prime Minister Pascoal Manuel Mocumbi, the only African in the race, did not make the last five as he did in 2003.

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1 organisation organisation     
n.组织，安排，团体，有机休
参考例句：
  • The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
  • His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。
2 diplomat Pu0xk     
n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人
参考例句：
  • The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
  • He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。
3 diplomats ccde388e31f0f3bd6f4704d76a1c3319     
n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人
参考例句：
  • These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
  • The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 incumbent wbmzy     
adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的
参考例句：
  • He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
  • It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。
5 emergence 5p3xr     
n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体
参考例句：
  • The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
  • Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。
6 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的
参考例句：
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
7 tricky 9fCzyd     
adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的
参考例句：
  • I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
  • He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。
8 pharmaceuticals be065c8a4af3a2d925d11969faac34cf     
n.医药品；药物( pharmaceutical的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • the development of new pharmaceuticals 新药的开发
  • The companies are pouring trillions of yen into biotechnology research,especially for pharmaceuticals and new seeds. 这些公司将大量资金投入生物工艺学研究，尤其是药品和新种子方面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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