Dr. Lee Jong Wook, director general of the World Health Organization, died in Geneva this morning after undergoing emergency surgery for a blood clot in his brain on Saturday, the organization said in a statement.
Lee Jong-wook, director of the World Health Organisation, looking on during a press conference at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2005.
He was 61 and had led the health organization since 2003.
His death was announced at the opening session of the annual meeting of the organization's 192 member countries in Geneva by Spain's minister of health, Elena Salgado, who was chairwoman of the session. Her voice trembling, Ms. Salgado praised Dr. Lee as "an exceptional person and an exceptional director-general," Reuters reported.
The organization announced that Dr. Anders Nordstrom, currently its assistant director general for general management, will serve as interim director-general.
Dr. Lee, 61, a South Korean, fell ill at a luncheon on Saturday in Geneva at the beginning of the weeklong meeting, called the World Health Assembly. He complained of a severe headache and later vomited, an official who was present said. Paramedics took him to the Cantonal Hospital in Geneva. Surgeons found that he had a blood clot on the brain known as a subdural hematoma and removed it.
Dr. Lee's experience with the public-health ramifications of international events reached back to his early childhood. When he was 5 years old, during the Korean War, he, his mother and two brothers had to trek 250 miles through a bitterly cold winter to be reunited with his father.
"The first thing he did was take us to a bakery for cookies," Dr. Lee recalled during an interview at the time of his appointment to lead the W.H.O. "I cried."
His father and one brother went into politics, but Dr. Lee said that his mother pushed him toward medicine as a way to earn a steady living. After earning a medical degree from Seoul National University, he dropped out of a training program and enrolled at the University of Hawaii to study public health, out of a belief, he said, that he could do more good that way.
During that program, he traveled through Micronesia to treat leprosy patients and used the blood samples he collected to develop a faster leprosy test.
He earned a master's degree in public health, but never finished his preventive medicine residency, because in 1983 a medical officer who was moving to the W.H.O.'s headquarters convinced Dr. Lee to take the job he was leaving, which included working on leprosy in Fiji.
Dr. Lee said he considered it "just a job," but was hooked both by the fun of scuba diving there and the sense of accomplishment that came from working in the field. In 1986, he was promoted to work in the agency's regional office in Manila, and then in 1990 he moved to the Geneva headquarters.
When Dr. Lee was appointed director general, he became the first Korean to lead an international agency.
He is survived by his wife and one son, Tad, news services reported.
In the 2003 interview, Dr. Lee recounted Tad's reaction to the news of his promotion to director-general: "Dad, you may save the world, but I need a new car."
Dr. Lee, who was driving a Volvo with 180,000 miles on it, agreed.
When it came time for him to choose his official car as director-general, Dr. Lee requested a Toyota Prius, a gas-electric hybrid, to symbolize the need for environmental health and prevention.
the W.H.O. leader, 이종욱, died (NY Times 기사)
한국에선, 박근혜대표가 얼굴에 상처가 났다는 기사가 신문을 도배하는 동안에
제네바에선, 그녀보다 훨씬 존경받아야 할 사람이 죽었다. 기사를 실어준 뉴욕 타임즈가 고마울 따름.
존경과 감사하는 맘으로, 기사를 스크랩.
*******************************************************
From NY Times,
Dr. Lee Jong Wook, director general of the World Health Organization, died in Geneva this morning after undergoing emergency surgery for a blood clot in his brain on Saturday, the organization said in a statement.
Lee Jong-wook, director of the World Health Organisation, looking on during a press conference at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2005.He was 61 and had led the health organization since 2003.
His death was announced at the opening session of the annual meeting of the organization's 192 member countries in Geneva by Spain's minister of health, Elena Salgado, who was chairwoman of the session. Her voice trembling, Ms. Salgado praised Dr. Lee as "an exceptional person and an exceptional director-general," Reuters reported.
The organization announced that Dr. Anders Nordstrom, currently its assistant director general for general management, will serve as interim director-general.
Dr. Lee, 61, a South Korean, fell ill at a luncheon on Saturday in Geneva at the beginning of the weeklong meeting, called the World Health Assembly. He complained of a severe headache and later vomited, an official who was present said. Paramedics took him to the Cantonal Hospital in Geneva. Surgeons found that he had a blood clot on the brain known as a subdural hematoma and removed it.
Dr. Lee's experience with the public-health ramifications of international events reached back to his early childhood. When he was 5 years old, during the Korean War, he, his mother and two brothers had to trek 250 miles through a bitterly cold winter to be reunited with his father.
"The first thing he did was take us to a bakery for cookies," Dr. Lee recalled during an interview at the time of his appointment to lead the W.H.O. "I cried."
His father and one brother went into politics, but Dr. Lee said that his mother pushed him toward medicine as a way to earn a steady living. After earning a medical degree from Seoul National University, he dropped out of a training program and enrolled at the University of Hawaii to study public health, out of a belief, he said, that he could do more good that way.
During that program, he traveled through Micronesia to treat leprosy patients and used the blood samples he collected to develop a faster leprosy test.
He earned a master's degree in public health, but never finished his preventive medicine residency, because in 1983 a medical officer who was moving to the W.H.O.'s headquarters convinced Dr. Lee to take the job he was leaving, which included working on leprosy in Fiji.
Dr. Lee said he considered it "just a job," but was hooked both by the fun of scuba diving there and the sense of accomplishment that came from working in the field. In 1986, he was promoted to work in the agency's regional office in Manila, and then in 1990 he moved to the Geneva headquarters.
When Dr. Lee was appointed director general, he became the first Korean to lead an international agency.
He is survived by his wife and one son, Tad, news services reported.
In the 2003 interview, Dr. Lee recounted Tad's reaction to the news of his promotion to director-general: "Dad, you may save the world, but I need a new car."
Dr. Lee, who was driving a Volvo with 180,000 miles on it, agreed.
When it came time for him to choose his official car as director-general, Dr. Lee requested a Toyota Prius, a gas-electric hybrid, to symbolize the need for environmental health and prevention.