Experts urge more scrutiny of WHO regional elections after racism scandal
Five candidates are vying to lead the World Health Organization’s regional office in the Western Pacific. Experts say whoever gets elected needs to be technically and managerially competent, and boost morale in an office that saw its previous head, Dr. Takeshi Kasai, dismissed for misconduct.
They’re hoping more transparency in the process would help ensure that. Had there been more scrutiny of candidates during the regional elections back in 2018, the scandal in WHO’s leadership in Western Pacific could have been prevented, said Dr. Colin Tukuitonga, the Pacific associate dean at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Auckland. He was New Zealand’s candidate in 2018 and came second to Kasai, Japan’s candidate, in that election. Several WHO staff accused Kasai of racism and abusive conduct in an Associated Press report in 2022.
“People knew already about Takeshi before the election,” he told Devex. “So had there been a more robust process, those areas, those gaps, those weaknesses may have been picked up,” he told Devex.
About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
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