12 Facts About Hiroshi Nakajima

Hiroshi Nakajima was a Japanese doctor known chiefly for his tenure as Director-General of the World Health Organization.

Hiroshi Nakajima was born in Chiba, Japan, on 16 May 1928.

From 1956 or 1958 to 1967 Nakajima worked at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research doing medical and pharmaceutical research.

Hiroshi Nakajima joined WHO in 1974 in the position of Scientist, Drug Evaluation and Monitoring.

In January 1988 the WHO executive board selected Hiroshi Nakajima to become Director-General in a 17-to-14 vote over Carlyle Guerra de Macedo of Brazil.

Mann thought Hiroshi Nakajima was not aggressive enough in his approach against AIDS.

Much of the success of the Global Programme on AIDS was attributed to Mann, who had autonomy over the Global Programme on AIDS, which Hiroshi Nakajima wanted to take away.

In May 1993, Hiroshi Nakajima was re-elected in a 93-to-58 vote to a second term of office as Director-General.

Hiroshi Nakajima's re-election was opposed by all major donor countries to the WHO including the United States.

In 1997, Hiroshi Nakajima announced that he was not seeking another re-election and that his term of office would end in July 1998.

Hiroshi Nakajima was replaced by Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway, whose candidacy was supported by the United States and the European Union.

Hiroshi Nakajima died after a short illness in Poitiers, France, on January 26,2013.