Margaret Chan

Dr Margaret Chan, from the People's Republic of China, is the Director-General Emeritus of the World Health Organization (WHO). As the 7th Director-General from January 2007 to June 2017, Dr Chan led WHO through a period of profound change. The political, social, economic and epidemiological challenges facing health in the early 21st century have been unprecedented in their complexity and global in their impact. Population ageing, antimicrobial resistance, climate change, obesity, and the globalised marketing of unhealthy products, chronic non communicable diseases overtook infectious diseases as the leading killers worldwide. The global economic slowdown since 2008 also affected populations around the world as many governments struggled to finance basic health services. Despite these immense challenges, Dr Chan's leadership ensured sustained progress in improving health and life-expectancy in populations around the world. During her tenure, Dr Chan led the global movement on 'universal health coverage', and the global response to major health emergencies like the influenza pandemic, Ebola and Zika epidemics. She has also transformed WHO into one of the most transparent and accountable international organisations by initiating an ambitious program of reform since 2011. As Director-General, Dr Chan frequently emphasised the importance of working in partnership with other stakeholders in society to achieve common goals in health. Dr Chan was appointed in March 2018 as a Standing Committee member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in China. In July 2018, she is serving as the President of the Global Health Forum under the Boao Forum for Asia. Dr Chan obtained her B.A., M.D. and DSc degrees from the Western University, Canada and a MSc in public health from the National University of Singapore. She completed a programme for management development at Harvard Business School in Boston.