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U.N. Health Chief Lee Dies After Surgery for Blood Clot in Brain

Delegates observe a minute of silence at the 59th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, May 22, 2006, to mark the death of WHO Director-General Lee Jong-wook. (©AP/WWP)

Washington -- Director-General Lee Jong-wook of the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations' specialized agency for health, died May 22 just as health leaders from an estimated 190 nations gathered in Geneva for the 59th World Health Assembly.

Lee’s death came after emergency surgery on May 20 to relieve a blood clot on his brain. A 61-year-old citizen of the Republic of Korea, Lee was rushed to the hospital after collapsing while attending an official function.

"I am sorry to tell you that Dr. Lee Jong-wook, director-general of the WHO, died this morning," Spain’s health minister, Elena Salgado, announced as the health assembly opened.

"The world has lost a great man today," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a WHO statement.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt is in Geneva for the assembly, and made a statement on Lee’s death at a May 22 briefing, calling Lee "my good friend" who offered WHO "visionary leadership."

In the last quarter of 2005, Leavitt, Lee and a group of other U.S. and international health officials traveled to several Southeast Asian nations to assess the damage and dangers of avian influenza, or bird flu, and the potential for human pandemic flu.

The U.S. health official remembered the trip as a time of great learning.

"I was a student of Dr. Lee’s in understanding the importance of global cooperation," Leavitt said. "He embodied, in my judgment, the spirit of cooperation and has done a great deal throughout the course of his career to foster it."

Lee had been with WHO for 23 years. In the almost three years that he led the U.N.’s health agency, Lee traveled to more than 60 countries.

He came to office committed to expanding access to AIDS treatment in the developing world, initiating the "3 by 5" program. The campaign aspired to deliver medicines to 3 million people by 2005 and, while it fell short of the goal, it did prove that much wider access to drugs is possible, according to a WHO tribute to Lee.

Over the last year, avian and pandemic influenza became issues of increasing urgency for Lee, as an epidemic of highly pathogenic avian influenza spread broadly through Asia, Europe and into Africa.

Lee urged all heads of state to lead their nations in developing plans that will help them be prepared to cope with the health, economic and social problems that are likely to accompany pandemic disease.

Following Lee’s sudden death, Assistant Director-General for General Management Dr. Anders Nordström will serve as WHO’s acting director-general.

President Bush also issued a statement of condolence to Lee’s surviving family.

For news and background on U.S. policies and programs, see Health.

A tribute to Lee is available on the WHO's Web site.