WHO dies after Brain Surgery- spearheaded SARS and Bird Flu battles

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WHO chief dies after brain surgery

Monday, May 22, 2006; Posted: 8:37 a.m. EDT (12:37 GMT)

Lee had led the WHO's work to combat the spread of bird flu.

World Health Organization (WHO)

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Manage Alerts | What Is This? GENEVA, Switzerland (AP) -- Dr. Lee

Jong-wook, who spearheaded the World Health Organization's

successive battles against SARS and bird flu, died Monday after

undergoing emergency surgery for a blood clot in his brain,

officials said. He was 61.

Lee died at 7:43 a.m. (0543 GMT) Monday morning, said a WHO

statement. Anders Nordstrom of Sweden, whom Lee had named to take

over in an emergency, will serve as acting director-general.

" I am shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the sudden passing of

Dr. Lee, " U.N. Secretary-General Kofi n said in a

statement. " This sudden loss of a leader, colleague and friend is

truly devastating. "

A WHO statement said Lee had been in hospital since he fell ill

Saturday afternoon while attending an official function, after which

he underwent surgery to remove the blood clot.

Lee, who took over as director-general of WHO in 2003 as the agency

battled the SARS outbreak in Asia, worked for WHO for 23 years,

including time served in regional posts. He was the first South

Korean to head a U.N. agency, after winning praise for his low-key

but efficient management style as head of the agency's tuberculosis

program.

TIME magazine named Lee one of the world's 100 most influential

people in 2004.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt, who

traveled with Lee last year to six southeast Asian countries to

learn about a possible pandemic influenza, paid tribute to his

leadership.

" Dr. Lee shared with me how he was as a young boy from the war-torn

country of Korea, " Leavitt said. " He spoke with me of three

difficult and arduous months, when he and his mother walked mile

after mile after mile in search of his father, who was during that

cold winter in exile.

" Dr. Lee experienced hardship at a very early age, and my sense is

it was the reason that he chose to devote himself to public

service, " Leavitt added.

He " was an exceptional person and an exceptional director-general, "

Elena Salgado, Spain's health minister and president of the World

Health Assembly, said Monday at the opening of the annual meeting of

the 192 members of WHO, before the session observed two minutes'

silence. Flags flew at half-staff on the U.N. building, where the

meeting was taking place.

Lee originally said he wanted to improve international monitoring to

help tackle outbreaks of diseases like SARS and that his mandate

would be defined by the fight against HIV/AIDS, particularly in the

hardest-hit poor countries.

But after the threat from SARS, or severe acute respiratory

syndrome, was contained, Lee's time in office came to be dominated

by the high-profile spread of bird flu through Asia, Europe and

Africa and its potential for causing a human influenza pandemic.

Lee, a tuberculosis expert who had previously run WHO's Stop TB

program, was elected by the agency's executive committee in January

2003 to replace Gro Harlem Brundtland, a former Norwegian prime

minister.

" His leadership allowed us to put a tuberculosis program at WHO back

on its feet, " said Dr. Raviglione, who took over as head of

the Stop TB program when Lee became WHO director-general.

" He had very clear ideas of what he wanted to do and was really

committed to the problems of international health, " Raviglione

said. " He was a rare individual. He didn't talk much. When he spoke,

he knew exactly why. "

Lee -- known for his lighthearted manner in news conferences, when

he often joked with journalists -- was the only WHO insider in the

race for the top job in 2003 and the only candidate never to have

held a ministerial or top U.N. post.

" I knew Dr. Lee for many years and had nothing but the highest

admiration for his commitment to global public health, " said Dr.

Shigeru Omi, WHO's regional director for the Western Pacific. " He

will be sorely missed. "

Lee is survived by his wife and son.

" Our people will long remember the big contributions (Lee) made in

strengthening international health cooperation and bettering the

health of people all over the world, " South Korean President Roh Moo-

hyun said in a telegram to Lee's wife.