In its first speech after being formally elected as Director General of the World Health Organisation, Dr Jong Wook Lee said the WHO operations would be 'significantly focussed' on countries.

Dr. Lee emphasized over the need to work for the highest attainable standard of health “for every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief or economic or social condition.”

“Five years from now, our operations will be significantly focused on countries. We will be 'closer to ground' working more intensely with national health authorities to respond to their priority health goals. We will focus on achievable objectives in areas where WHO can provide skills and resources, ” said Dr. Lee.

The activities focused by WHO in the next five years will be based on five major implications. The first implication is aggressive pursuit of measurable health objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals, which were adopted at the UN General Millennium Summit in September 2000. They set clear objectives in nutrition; access to safe water; maternal and chilled health; infectious disease control, and access to essential medicines. “We will work with partners to strengthen community involvement in HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment. I pledge to completely eradicate polio during my tenure as the Director-General,” he said.

The second implication will be shifting more resources to countries. Decentralizing WHO's work is a means of serving countries more effectively. It will be pursued in cases where it will promote positive results on ground, he said.

The third implication will be to generate efficiency in the system. Prioritization cost cutting measures, better use of technologies like IT, more investment in IT and communication infrastructure will be focused upon, said Dr. Lee.

The fourth implication is bringing more accountability into the system. As part of this, the audit function at the WHO will be strengthened. Also, the global health surveillance and data management will be a key objective of WHO in the coming years.

The fifth and final implication proposed by Dr. Lee is the strengthening of human resources, both inside and outside the organisation. “I'm developing plans to create more coherent career paths that will clarify institutional expectations and enable profession al growth throughout the span of a WHO career. I'm also determined to see WHO's professional staff reflect more fully gender balance and the diversity of our member states, ” he said.