Running for WHO

Recently, the director of the World Health Organization Malaria Program, Arata Kochi, has been throwing his weight around by favoring the use of DDT, even where it is not indicated. There have been several posts on this at Deltoid, and an article in the New York Times.

This becomes more understandable when one reads of the open contest for WHO director

In what promises to be an unusually hard-fought and public race, 13 candidates are competing to be the next director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO). The surfeit of contenders means that the process will be even less predictable than usual, say observers, but early signs are that it also may be more open than previous campaigns.

While not a leading candidate (yet) Kochi may be positioning himself to step up. They can't make enough tin foil for me.