Pekka Puska Finland's candidate for WHO Director-General position

Pekka Puska

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The Director-General of the National Public Health Institute Pekka Puska (M.D., Ph.D, M.Soc.Sc.) is Finland's candidate for the post of Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), to be elected in a supplementary meeting of the World Health Assembly in Geneva in November.
      Puska's candidacy was first reported by the Karjalainen newspaper. The candidacy has been discussed in various government bodies in Finland, and it has been presented to the United Nations Committee of the European Union in Brussels.
      "Finland has not yet officially announced Puska's candidacy to the WHO. We're currently in the process of mapping out what the candidacy entails and how we should proceed with this", explains ministerial advisor Liisa Ollila from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
      Pekka Puska is renowned, first and foremost, as the initiator and leader of the North Karelia Project.
     
The official applications for the WHO Director-General post have to be in by September 5th. The WHO Executive Board decided to speed up the election of the new Director-General after the sudden death of the previous holder of the position, Jong-Wook Lee of South Korea.
      Between November 6th and 8th, the WHO Executive Board will select five primary candidates, who will then be interviewed.
      On November 9th, the Health Assembly will vote on the Executive Board proposal, and the new Director-General will commence work at the beginning of next year.
      Of the 34 member states on the Executive Board, eight are from Europe and five from the European Union.
     
In public there have been speculations that Puska would face rival candidates at least from Japan, China, Iceland, and Kuwait.
      Liisa Ollila has also heard rumours of several other European candidates. She denies the possibility of Puska becoming the candidate for the entire European Union.
      "Usually, the EU countries do not have common candidates in this kind of situation. If there are several candidates, it would be next to impossible to decide behind whom the whole of the EU should stand", Ollila believes.


Links:
  National Public Health Institute - Pekka Puska, Director General
  WHO: North Karelia Project

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