Media centre

Speeches on the Ebola outbreak

Dr Margaret Chan, Former WHO Director-General

2016

  • WHO Director-General addresses high-level conference on global health security
    23 March 2016 -- Dr Margaret Chan welcomed the initiative aimed at strengthening country capacities to implement the International Health Regulations. As she noted, the conference signaled a high level political commitment and an equally high level of practical commitment to take concrete action.
  • WHO Director-General addresses UK medicines regulatory authority
    1 March 2016 -- In her lecture, Dr Margaret Chan described the multiple ways in which regulatory authorities protect public health on a daily basis. While safety nets may be barely noticed when all goes well, public health emergencies, like the Ebola and Zika outbreaks, make contributions from regulatory agencies highly visible and critically important.
  • WHO Director-General launches the European Medical Corps
    15 February 2016 -- In her keynote address, Dr Margaret Chan explained why launching the European Medical Corps marks a sea of change in the world’s preparedness to respond to public health emergencies.
  • WHO Director-General addresses the Executive Board
    25 January 2016 -- In her address, Dr Margaret Chan provided an update on the Ebola situation in West Africa. She described a new emergency programme that transforms the way WHO responds to outbreaks and humanitarian crises. She also discussed the implications for health of the Sustainable Development Goals and several major crises that threaten health worldwide.
  • WHO Director-General briefs UN General Assembly on Ebola
    13 January 2016 -- In her statement to the UN General Assembly, Dr Margaret Chan reviewed the current Ebola situation, describing the monumental efforts needed to break all known chains of virus transmission. This has been achieved. On 14 January, for the first time during the two-year long outbreak, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone have reported zero new cases for at least 42 days, which is twice the incubation period.

2015

2014