THE WORLD Health Organization this week appointed Michael Merson as
the new director of its Global Programme on AIDS. Merson, who was formerly
director of the WHO鈥檚 Diarrhoeal Disease Control programme, succeeds Jonathan
Mann who resigned in March over disagreement with the organisation鈥檚 director
general, Hiroshi Nakajima.
Officials in Geneva had expected Merson鈥檚 appointment. At a press conference
held earlier this week at the 43rd World Health Assembly in Geneva, Merson
said he planned to decentralise the programme and involve the six regional
offices.
Some WHO staff at the assembly were critical of Merson鈥檚 plans, claiming
that some of the regional offices could be inefficient, slow and corrupt.
When Mann resigned, reports backed by some of his colleagues suggested that
he was opposed to Nakajima on the question of decentralisation. Mann, however,
denied these reports (This Week, 24 March).
Advertisement
Merson鈥檚 appointment comes shortly after the US and other countries
that donate money to the WHO鈥檚 Global Programme on AIDS announced that they
would not increase their funding to the programme next year. The programme
spent $75 million in 1989, and expects to spend $91 million in 1990. Next
year, the donor countries say their total funds will not exceed $75 million.