The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced changes in responsibility for several senior managers. The changes come nearly two years after WHO Director-General 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. Moreover, we need to free up additional technical expertise for priority areas presented to, and endorsed by, the Executive Board," said Dr Brundtland.

The Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD) and Social Change and Mental Health (HSC) 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 Chen will report to the Director-General and work closely with the cluster of Evidence and Information for Policy (EIP). Dr Yasuhiro Suzuki, current Executive Director of the HSC cluster, will become Executive Director of the Health Technology and Pharmaceuticals (HTP) cluster. 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.

In the other senior management changes, Dr David Nabarro, current Programme Manager for the Roll Back Malaria Initiative, will become head of the Sustainable Development and Healthy Environments (SDE) Cluster on 1 July. Dr Nabarro will replace Mrs Poonam Singh, current Executive Director, who is taking up the post of Director of Programme Management at WHO's Regional Office for Southeast Asia (SEARO). At SEARO, Mrs Singh is expected to play an active role in that WHO Region's reform process.