AFP, Geneva :
The World Health Organization’s outgoing chief Margaret Chan defended her legacy Monday, insisting the world had become better prepared to face health emergencies like Ebola on her watch.
In her final address to WHO’s member states, Chan acknowledged that mistakes had been made during her decade at the helm, but stressed that while “we falter sometimes, … we never give up.”
“The world is better prepared, but not nearly well enough,” she told the some 4,000 delegates gathered from WHO’s 194 member countries for its annual assembly in Geneva.
Chan, whose successor will be elected Tuesday, presented a range of achievements she insisted dispelled “the frequent criticism that WHO has lost its relevance”.
She had reason to be on the defensive: During her tenure, WHO faced crushing criticism for its handling of several health emergencies, but none more than the west Africa Ebola epidemic that killed more than 11,300 people between late 2013 and early 2016.
