Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland took office in July 1998. In the initial period of my tenure, we concentrated on putting a new management structure in place and in developing a cohesive strategy for the Organization. The consolidation which will now take place is aimed at taking advantage of letting several programmes work more closely together.
Clusters are to be merged.
Dr Derek Yach, current Programme Manager for the Tobacco Free Initiative, will become Executive Director of the combined Cluster. Dr Jie Chen, current Executive Director for the NCD Cluster, is appointed Special Representative of the Director-General on Health Systems Development in Large Developing Countries. Dr Michael Scholtz, current Executive Director of HTP, is appointed Special Representative of the Director-General in charge of working with the private sector on improved access to drugs and vaccines. He will report to the Director-General. The changes will take effect Monday 13 March.