Shigeru Omi cropped 2 Shigeru Omi and Shinzo Abe 20200407 3

Shigeru Omi (born June 11, 1949) is the President of the Japan Community Health Care Organization. He previously served as Regional Director of the Western Pacific Regional Office for 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 ...

. He has been a member of the World Health Organization Executive Board since 2013.

Early life

Omi was born in Tokyo on June 11, 1949. In 1967, while studying at the Junior and Senior High School at Komaba, University of Tsukuba, he was selected to take part in an

American Field Service AFS Intercultural Programs (or AFS, originally the American Field Service) is an international youth exchange organization. It consists of over 50 independent, not-for-profit organizations, each with its own network of volunteers, professional ...

cultural exchange and studied at the high school in

Potsdam, New York Potsdam ( moh, Tsi tewate’nehtararénies) is a town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The town population was 14,901 at the 2020 census. The ZIP Code is 13676. When SUNY Potsdam and Clarkson University are in session, the popul ...

for one year. On returning to Japan in 1968, he found that due to nationwide student protests the entrance exams for

Tokyo University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

had, as with other national universities, been cancelled by the government. Unable to apply there, he instead studied law at Keio University. At first he considered a career as a diplomat or in a trading company, but was deeply affected by reading the work of doctor and psychiatrist Yushi Uchimura.

Career

Shigeru Omi and Masato Mugitani cropped 2 Shigeru Omi and Masato Mugitani 201101

During his tenure with the World Health Organization, he is credited with the eradication of

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 ...

in the 37 countries in the Western Pacific Region in 2000 as part of the Regional Polio Eradication Initiative. Also, he worked to fight both SARS and avian flu. In 2006, Omi was a candidate for

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 governmen ...

of the

WHO Who or WHO may refer to: * Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun * Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * World Health Organization Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...

but

Margaret Chan Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, (born 21 August 1947) is a Chinese-Canadian physician, who served as the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) delegating the People's Republic of China from 2006–2017. Chan previously served ...

was appointed instead. Between 2008 and 2009, he was part of a High-Level Taskforce on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems, which had been launched to help strengthen health systems in the 49 poorest countries in the world and was chaired by UK Prime Minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...

and

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

president

Robert Zoellick Robert Bruce Zoellick (; ; born July 25, 1953) is an American public official and lawyer who was the eleventh president of the World Bank, a position he held from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2012. He was previously a managing director of Goldman Sach ...

. From 2009 until 2012, Omi taught public health at

Jichi Medical University is a private university in Shimotsuke, Tochigi, Japan, established in 1972. In 2008 the Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an Americ ...

in Japan. He was the President of the 66th

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. Th ...

in 2013.Note to Correspondents: Secretary-General Appoints Global Health Crises Task Force

Secretary-General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-g ...

, press release of 29 June 2016 In 2016, he was appointed by

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-g ...

Ban Ki-moon to the Global Health Crises Task Force, jointly chaired by

Jan Eliasson Jan Kenneth Eliasson (born 17 September 1940) is a Swedish diplomat who was Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations from July 2012 to December 2016. A member of the Swedish Social Democratic Party, Eliasson served as Minister for Fore ...

Jim Yong Kim Jim Yong Kim (; born December 8, 1959), also known as Kim Yong (/金墉), is an American physician and anthropologist who served as the 12th president of the World Bank from 2012 to 2019. A global health leader, Kim was formerly the chair of ...

and

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

Coronavirus pandemic

In February 2020, Omi was appointed vice chair of a government panel of experts on

COVID-19 pandemic in Japan Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, and was a top advisor for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

organisation committee. On 3 June, he stated that "it's not normal to host the games where there's a pandemic" ("パンデミックの所でやるのは普通ではない"). He also testified at a parliamentary committee that "if they were to be held during a pandemic, it is the organizers' responsibility to scale them down as much as possible and strengthen the management system", and on 19 June warned that due to a possible spike in infections in Tokyo, the games should be hosted without any kind of public.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Omi, Shigeru Living people World Health Organization officials Japanese officials of the United Nations 1949 births