Margaret Chan

Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, (born 21 August 1947) is a Chinese-Canadian physician, who served as the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) delegating the People's Republic of China from 2006 to 2017.

She received a bachelor of arts with a major in home economics in 1973 and a doctor of medicine in 1977 from the University of Western Ontario in Canada.

Chan joined the Government of British Hong Kong in December 1978 as a medical officer.

She received a master of science (public health) from the National University of Singapore in 1985.

In November 1989, she was promoted to assistant director of the Department of Health.

Chan completed the Program for Management Development (PMD 61) at Harvard Business School in 1991.

In April 1992, she was promoted to deputy director and, in June 1994, was named the first woman in Hong Kong to head the Department of Health.

Chan previously served as Director of Health in the Hong Kong Government (1994–2003) and representative of the WHO Director-General for Pandemic Influenza and WHO Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases (2003–2006).

She was widely criticized for her handling of the 1997 H5N1 avian influenza outbreak and the 2003 SARS outbreak in Hong Kong, and for her frequent travels while serving as Director-General of the WHO.

Chan was born and raised in British Hong Kong, now the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

Her ancestors came from Shunde, Guangdong.

Chan received a professional degree for teaching home economics at the Northecote College of Education in Hong Kong.

Chan survived the transition from British to PRC-HKSAR rule in June 1997.

Her profile was raised by her handling, in those positions, of the 1997 H5N1 avian influenza outbreak and the 2003 SARS outbreak in Hong Kong.

After the first cases of the H5N1 died, Chan first tried to reassure Hong Kong residents with statements such as "I ate chicken last night" or "I eat chicken every day, don't panic, everyone".

When many more H5N1 cases appeared, she was criticized for misleading the public.

She became "a symbol of ignorance and arrogance epitomizing the mentality of 'business as usual' embedded in the ideological and institutional practices within the bureaucracy, especially after the hand-over."

In the end, she was credited for helping bring the epidemic under control by the slaughter of 1.5 million chickens in the region in the face of stiff political opposition.

Her performance during the SARS outbreak, which ultimately led to 299 deaths, attracted harsh criticism from the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and many people with SARS and their relatives.

She was criticised by the Legislative Council for her passiveness, for believing in misleading information shared by the mainland authority, and for not acting swiftly.

She was also criticised for a lack of political wisdom was evident in her indifference to media reports and widespread public fear at that time.

On the other hand, the SARS expert committee established by the HKSAR government to assess its handling of the crisis, opined that the failure was not Chan's fault, but due to the structure of Hong Kong's health care system, in which the separation of the hospital authority from the public health authority resulted in problems with data sharing.

Chan's comments marked a significant departure from that of her predecessor, Gro Harlem Brundtland, who said in 2001 that North Korea's health system was near collapse.

The director-general's assessment was criticised, including in a Wall Street Journal editorial which called her statements "surreal."

Chan left the Hong Kong Government in August 2003 after 25 years of service to join the World Health Organization.

She could initially not take up a post of Assistent Director-General because the Chinese Government did not give its clearance.

From 2003 until 2005, Chan served as the Representative of the World Health Organization Director-General for Pandemic Influenza and as Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases.

Chan served two terms of five years apiece as Director-General of the WHO.

She was given the post of Director, Sustainable Development and Healthy Environment Department, until she could move on, in 2005, to the position of ADG.

Appointed to the post in November 2006, Chan's first term ran through to June 2012.

In her appointment speech, Chan considered the "improvements in the health of the people of Africa and the health of women" to be the key performance indicator of WHO and she wants to focus WHO's attention on "the people in greatest need."

In February 2007, Chan provoked the anger of humanitarian and civil society groups including Doctors Without Borders by questioning the quality of generic medicines while on a visit to Thailand.

In 2010 Chan was criticised for "crying wolf" about the 2009 flu pandemic, which turned out to be much milder than expected.

After a visit to North Korea in April 2010, Chan said malnutrition was a problem in the country but that North Korea's health system would be the envy of many developing countries because of the abundance of medical staff.

She also noted there were no signs of obesity in the country, which is a newly emerging problem in other parts of Asia.

On 18 January 2012, Chan was nominated by the WHO's executive board for a second term and was confirmed by the World Health Assembly on 23 May 2012.

In her acceptance speech, Chan indicated that universal coverage is a "powerful equaliser" and the most powerful concept of public health.

Chan's new term began on 1 July 2012 and continued until 30 June 2017.

In 2014, Forbes ranked her as the 30th most powerful woman in the world.

In early 2018 she joined the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).