Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, (born 21 August 1947) is a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

physician, who served as the Director-General of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

(WHO) delegating the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

from 2006–2017. Chan previously served as Director of Health in the

Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong Special administrative regions of China, ...

(1994–2003) and representative of the WHO Director-General for Pandemic Influenza and WHO Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases (2003–2006). In 2014, ''Forbes'' ranked her as the 30th most powerful woman in the world. In early 2018 she joined the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...

(CPPCC). She was widely criticized for her handling of the 1997

H5N1 Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 (A/H5N1) is a subtype of the influenza A virus which can cause illness in humans and many other animal species. A bird-adapted strain of H5N1, called HPAI A(H5N1) for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus of typ ...

avian influenza Avian influenza, known informally as avian flu or bird flu, is a variety of influenza caused by viruses adapted to birds.

outbreak and the 2003

SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''sever ...

outbreak in Hong Kong, and for her frequent travels while Director-General of the WHO.

Early life and education

Chan was born and raised in

British Hong Kong Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the Briti ...

, now the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. Her ancestors came from

Shunde Shunde District, also known as Shuntak, is a district of the city of Foshan, Guangdong province, located in the Pearl River Delta. It had a population of 2,464,784 as of the 2010 census. Once a traditional agricultural county, it has become one ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

. Chan received a professional degree for teaching

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

at the Northecote College of Education in Hong Kong. She received a

bachelor of arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

with a major in home economics in 1973 and a

doctor of medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

in 1977 from the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

in Canada. She received a

master of science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

(public health) from the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

in 1985. Chan completed the Program for Management Development (PMD 61) at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

in 1991.

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 A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

. 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

PRC China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

HKSAR Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

rule in June 1997. Her profile was raised by her handling, in those positions, of the 1997

avian influenza Avian influenza, known informally as avian flu or bird flu, is a variety of influenza caused by viruses adapted to birds.

outbreak and the 2003

outbreak in Hong Kong. After the first cases of the H5N1 died, Chan first tried to reassure

Hong Kong residents The Hong Kong Basic Law classifies residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region () as either permanent residents or non-permanent residents. Hong Kong residents have rights under the Basic Law including freedom of speech, freedom of ...

with statements such as "I ate chicken last night" or "I eat chicken every day, don't panic, everyone". When many more H5N1 cases appeared, she was criticized for misleading the public. She became "a symbol of ignorance and arrogance epitomizing the mentality of 'business as usual' embedded in the ideological and institutional practices within the bureaucracy, especially after the hand-over." In the end, she was credited for helping bring the epidemic under control by the slaughter of 1.5 million chickens in the region in the face of stiff political opposition. Her performance during the

outbreak, which ultimately led to 299 deaths, attracted harsh criticism from the

Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's " one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre of Hong Kong ...

and many people with SARS and their relatives. She was criticised by the Legislative Council for her passiveness, for believing in misleading information shared by the mainland authority, and for not acting swiftly. 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. 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.

Assistant to DGWHO

Chan left the

in August 2003 after 25 years of service to join the

. From 2003 until 2005, Chan served as the Representative of the

Director-General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

for Pandemic Influenza and as Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases.

Director-General of WHO, 2006–2017

Chan served two terms of five years apiece as Director-General of the WHO. Appointed to the post in November 2006, Chan's first term ran through to June 2012. In her appointment speech, Chan considered the "improvements in the health of the people of Africa and the health of women" to be the key performance indicator of WHO and she wants to focus WHO's attention on "the people in greatest need." On 18 January 2012, Chan was nominated by the WHO's executive board for a second term and was confirmed by the

World Health Assembly The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 194 member states. It is the world's highest health policy setting body and is composed of health ministers from member states. T ...

on 23 May 2012.''Dr Margaret Chan appointed to a second term as Director-General''
''WHO News Release'', 23 May 2012 In her acceptance speech, Chan indicated that universal coverage is a "powerful equaliser" and the most powerful concept of public health. Chan's new term began on 1 July 2012 and continued until 30 June 2017.

First term

Putin meets with WHO Director Chan June 2009 (14)

In February 2007, Chan provoked the anger of humanitarian and civil society groups including

Doctors Without Borders Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

by questioning the quality of generic medicines while on a visit to

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. In 2010 Chan was criticised for "crying wolf" about the

2009 flu pandemic The 2009 swine flu pandemic, caused by the H1N1 influenza virus and declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) from June 2009 to August 2010, is the third recent flu pandemic involving the H1N1 virus (the first being the 1918–1920 Span ...

, which turned out to be much milder than expected. After a visit to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

in April 2010, Chan said

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

was a problem in the country but that North Korea's health system would be the envy of many developing countries because of the abundance of medical staff. She also noted there were no signs of

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...

in the country, which is a newly emerging problem in other parts of Asia. Chan's comments marked a significant departure from that of her predecessor,

Gro Harlem Brundtland Gro Brundtland (; born Gro Harlem, 20 April 1939) is a Norwegian politician (Arbeiderpartiet), who served three terms as the 29th prime minister of Norway (1981, 1986–89, and 1990–96) and as the director-general of the World Health Organizati ...

, who said in 2001 that North Korea's health system was near collapse. The director-general's assessment was criticised, including in a ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' editorial which called her statements "surreal." The editorial further stated, "Ms. Chan is either winking at the reality to maintain contact with the North or she allowed herself to be fooled." 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.

Second term

The WHO was accused of deferring to the Syrian government of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Bashar al-Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the ...

when

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

made a comeback in that country in late 2013. In 2014 and 2015, Chan was again heavily criticised because of the slow response of the WHO to the

Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa The 2013–2016 epidemic of Ebola virus disease, centered in West Africa, Western Africa, was the most widespread List of Ebola outbreaks, outbreak of the disease in history. It caused major loss of life and Socioeconomics, socioeconomic disr ...

. 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

Michael R. Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

and

Lawrence H. Summers Lawrence Henry Summers (born November 30, 1954) is an American economist who served as the 71st United States secretary of the treasury from 1999 to 2001 and as director of the National Economic Council from 2009 to 2010. He also served as pres ...

to address preventable leading causes of death and noncommunicable diseases through

fiscal policy In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection (taxes or tax cuts) and expenditure to influence a country's economy. The use of government revenue expenditures to influence macroeconomic variables ...

. The same year, she was appointed to the Council of Advisors of the

Boao Forum for Asia The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA; ), initiated by 25 Asian countries and Australia (increased to 28 in 2006), is a non-profit organisation that hosts high-level forums for leaders from government, business and academia in Asia and other continents to ...

. In December 2021, during the

2021 Hong Kong legislative election 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 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." 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."

Other activities

* Exemplars in Global Health, Member of the Senior Advisory Board (since 2020)

Recognition

In 1997, Chan was given the distinction for the Fellowship of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and was also appointed as an

Officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

.Margaret Chan Professional Experience
/ref> 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.

Personal life

Margaret Chan is married to David Chan, who is an

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...

References

External links

* WHO website: *
Director-General's office
*

*

*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chan, Margaret Hong Kong medical doctors University of Western Ontario alumni World Health Organization officials Officers of the Order of the British Empire 1947 births Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Living people Chinese women physicians Chinese physicians Public health and safety in Hong Kong Canadian public health doctors National University of Singapore alumni 20th-century Canadian women scientists 21st-century Canadian women scientists Chinese officials of the United Nations Canadian officials of the United Nations Members of the 13th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Members of the Standing Committee of the 13th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Women public health doctors