THE WHO鈥檚 tarnished reputation suffered a further blow last week, when the
American TV programme 60 Minutes accused the UN agency鈥檚 deputy
director-general of misrepresenting his scientific qualifications.
Fernando Antezana immediately removed his name from the list of candidates
vying to become the WHO鈥檚 next director-general. But the current incumbent,
Hiroshi Nakajima, has refused to sack his beleaguered deputy.
Antezana has stated that he has a doctorate from the Mayor de San
Sim贸n University in Cochambamba, Bolivia. But 60 Minutes
established that the university does not award doctorates.
Advertisement
Nakajima, who has promoted Antezana three times, last week issued a statement
backing his deputy: 鈥淚 have decided that he will continue to act as my
deputy-director general鈥e is a great asset for the organisation.鈥�
Nakajima argues that Antezana鈥檚 Bolivian degree is equivalent to a PhD.
Under Nakajima鈥檚 10-year reign, the WHO has come under attack for its
bureaucratic inefficiency and lack of leadership
(鈥淭he WHO strikes mid-life crisis鈥�,
快猫短视频, 11 January 1997, p 12).
For some, the latest controversy is the final straw. 鈥淚t鈥檚 utterly
deplorable,鈥� says John Dunne, formerly the WHO鈥檚 director of drug management
policy. 鈥淚f the WHO鈥檚 leadership had any credibility left, it鈥檚 gone now,鈥� says
a senior WHO official, who preferred to remain anonymous.
60 Minutes began to investigate Antezana because of his association with the
controversial Market News Service. This was set up in 1991 to monitor and
publicise the prices of pharmaceutical ingredients. But critics complain that
the service has promoted ingredients that do not meet the highest international
specifications
(This Week, 6 September 1997, p 5).
Last week鈥檚 events have cast a shadow over the election of Nakajima鈥檚
successor. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an unfortunate distraction from all the good work that鈥檚 being
done by the organisation,鈥� says a senior British official.
Antezana鈥檚 withdrawal from the race leaves a field of five. Critics of the
current WHO regime are pinning their hopes for reform on the external candidates
Gro Harlem Brundtland, formerly prime minister of Norway, or Nafis Sadik of
Pakistan, currently executive director of the UN Population Fund. Of the
candidates drawn from within the WHO, the leading contenders are George Alleyne
of Barbados, currently director of the WHO鈥檚 American region, and Uton Muchtar
Rafei of Indonesia, director of the agency鈥檚 Southeast Asia region.
This week, the WHO鈥檚 executive board will select a single candidate who will
then go forward to be approved at the World Health Assembly in May.