Nisha Rathode (Editor)

Lee Jong wook

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Succeeded by
  
Anders Nordstrom

Name
  
Lee Jong-wook

Nationality
  
South Korean


Lee Jong-wook WHO Dr LEE Jongwook 19452006 former Director

Born
  
12 April 1945Seoul, Korea (
1945-04-12
)

Died
  
May 22, 2006, Geneva, Switzerland

Education
  
Seoul National University, University of Hawaii, University of Hawaii at Manoa

People also search for
  
Heo Jeong, Choi Kyu-hah, Shin Hyun-joon

Preceded by
  
Resting place
  

2004 Hilton Humanitarian Prize: Keynote Speaker Dr. Lee Jong Wook


Lee Jong-wook (12 April 1945 – 22 May 2006) was the director-general of the World Health Organization for three years. He joined the WHO in 1983, working on a variety of projects including the Global Programme for Vaccines and Immunizations and Stop Tuberculosis. He began his term as director-general in 2003. He was the first figure from Korea (both North and South) to lead an international agency. In 2004, he was one of the 100 people who shapes our lives and most powerful people in the world by Time Magazine.

Contents

Lee Jong-wook Image World Health Organization amp Dr Lee Jongwook

Premio de Salud Publica en Memoria del doctor LEE Jong wook


Early life

Lee Jong-wook Posthumous honor for exWHO chief Lee Jongwook

Born on 12 April 1945 in Seoul, Korea, Lee obtained a medical degree at Seoul National University, then obtained an MA at the University of Hawaii in public health. He is the third son in a family of six children; he has three brothers and two sisters. Two brothers are professors.

Lee Jong-wook wwwwhointentitymediacentremultimedia2004jwl

Lee took care of leprosy patients in Anyang, South Korea when he was studying medicine. There were few medical facilities set up at the time and he worked in a volunteer capacity. He met and later married Kaburaki Reiko, a Japanese woman who visited Korea in order to help out there.

WHO career

Lee Jong-wook Lee Jong Wook South Korean physician Britannicacom

He worked at the World Health Organisation (WHO), at country, regional and headquarter levels for 23 years. His work in WHO started in 1983 when he worked with leprosy in Fiji. He started his work as an advisor on leprosy, and later also treated tuberculosis and promoted the vaccination of children against preventable diseases.

Lee Jong-wook Dr Lee Jong Wook WHO chief enabled AIDS care for the poor SFGate

In 1994, Lee moved to Geneva to work at WHO headquarters as chief in prevention and vaccines. In 1995, he was nicknamed Vaccine Czar according to Scientific American. Lee became official candidate for 6th director-generals of WHO.

  • 1983-2006 : Staff of WHO
  • 1994-98 : Director in Global Programme for Vaccines and Immunization, and Executive Secretary, Children's Vaccine Initiative
  • 1998-99 : Senior Policy Adviser to 5th General, Gro Harlem Brundtland
  • 1999-2000 : Special Representative of the Director-General
  • 2003-2006 : Director-General of WHO
  • He had said that global efforts to control the HIV/AIDS pandemic would be the right course that would give meaning to his tenure as director-general of the agency.

    The 3 by 5 policy, which was the basic idea of Lee, was largely criticized by many concerned people. International AIDS Society president Joep Lange, had a comment that the project was “totally unrealistic”. Médecins sans Frontières, also expressed similar reservations toward Lee's plan.

    He visited 60 countries in the three years of his Generalship including Darfur, Sudan, sites of the Indian Ocean tsunami, Madagascar, Mauritius. He was famed as a man of action during this time. His adventurous spirit led him to "experience more, see more, and do more," said his son Tadahiro.

    Death

    He died on 22 May 2006, while in office, in Geneva, Switzerland, following surgery for a blood clot in the brain (a subdural hematoma). He died after preparing for UN general meetings. His symptom was caused by inner injury of brain. Dr. Lee fell ill at a luncheon on Saturday in Geneva. He died in intensive care unit of Geneva University Hospital after receiving emergency surgery for a blood clot on his brain.

    Secretary General of United Nations at that time, Kofi Annan mentioned

    President George W. Bush of United States said

    He was posthumously awarded the Hibiscus Cordon (Grand Cross) of the Order of Civil Merit by the South Korean government. He was survived by Reiko Kaburaki Lee; the couple has one son, Tadahiro Lee. Reiko continues to volunteer in Peru helping poor women and children.

    Memorial award

    The South Korean government officially announced the establishment of the a Memorial Prize in Lee's memory. After his death, You Si min, the Minister of Health and Welfare of the Republic of Korea, officially revealed the plans concerning the new awards and urged other nations and persons concerned to participate at a meeting of WHO in 2007. Mr.Lee Sung-joo, who is permanent representative of the Republic of Korea, spoke of the award in Dr. Lee's memory to motivate and inspire young leaders aspiring to be the next Dr. Lee Jong-wook.

    Starting in 2009, the awards would be given for mainly the fields "young leadership" and "contributor of health management" (especially for epidemics) at the annual assembly of WHO, which takes place in May each year.

    References

    Lee Jong-wook Wikipedia